North Korean authorities are ransacking civilian homes to look for food to feed the military after they failed to fulfill their government quotas.
Villagers in Ryanggang Province, at the Chinese border, claim local farming officials have been barging into their homes and taking food intended for their families after last year's bad harvest.
This has 'become a source of conflict' between farmers and authorities, South Korean news reports.
Pictured are what is said to be North Korean soldiers rummaging through crop fields (circled)
'Officials carried out home searches in Paekam County (Ryanggang Province) to determine how much food some families had,' a source told Daily NK
'As an excuse to enter and demand bribes, they said to the residents, "Are we just going to let our military starve while the Americans lick their lips and prepare to eat us alive?".'
Earlier this month, Daily NK published images which appear to show soldiers stealing grains from civilians as they were seen in a civilian corn field.
Other sources said many residents have expressed 'pity about the situation' after soldiers are spending up to three months pillaging their crops.
It is claimed that a poor harvest, a drought and international sanctions have left the government with reduced food rations.
Similar images were circulated in August last year, which appear to shows desperate soldiers trying to find food
Kim Jong-un frequently boasts about his nation's military capability, although soldiers surviving on meagre rations have resorted to stealing from civilians
Another source added: 'Even though the price of rice hasn't changed much in the markets, people are especially worried that the effects of international sanctions will not stop to mount and soon cause even more problems.'
In the last two months, two soldiers from the North have defected to the South. One of those who crossed the border was found to have parasitic worms in his stomach, one as long as 11 inches.
In August last year, it was reported that Pyongyang, which frequently boasts of the power of its military, had allowed soldiers to go and steal crops from civilians.