Two North Korean soldiers allegedly murdered two women who caught them stealing food from a kindergarten.

The soldiers with a military engineering unit in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, have fled after murdering the two locals last month, Daily NK reported.

The North Korean authorities have now issued a wanted notice for the soldiers who fled after murdering the two women who caught them stealing food from a kindergarten in a residential area, a source in the province told Daily NK on Friday, July 2.

According to the source, the soldiers are from the unit that has been tasked with constructing concrete walls and high voltage wires along the North Korea-China border.

The source reported that soldiers in this unit are apparently suffering from starvation, causing them to frequently leave construction sites to steal food from residential areas.

On a night in mid-June, the two suspected soldiers raided a kindergarten in a residential area to steal food. They were caught in the act by a kindergarten teacher who was posted to stand guard at the school at night times.

The woman was accompanied by her mother who was helping her daughter as she had to spend the nights in the building alone.

When the women confronted the soldiers they "mercilessly" stabbed the pair to death.

"After the two soldiers committed the murders, they cleaned out all the food and disappeared, and they haven’t been caught yet," the source, who wished to be anonymous, told the news outlet.

"After the incident, the Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Social Security, local military units, and personnel from [military engineering] units building the concrete wall and high voltage wires sealed off the area and searched everywhere [for the culprits], but they found no trace of them."

The next day, North Hamgyong Province authorities issued an order to capture the two soldiers in question. The following day, the order was expanded nationwide.

The authorities have intensified the border patrols with a view to "catch [the culprits] without fail."

"People living in the border area were already full of anxiety because of thieving soldiers, but now they are scared out of their wits because of this incident," said the source.

"It’s been around two weeks since the soldiers committed the murders and fled, but their whereabouts still remain unknown. Locals feel anxious because they don’t know when and where another murder might occur."

Army men
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