SEOUL: A confidential North Korean military manual obtained by a newspaper here provides a rare insight into the siege mentality gripping the government and leader Kim Jong-Il’s fears for his own security and the loyalty of his million-strong army.

The manual written for general level officers and above says the United States is mounting a covert campaign to bribe North Korean officers to turn against their leader.

A similar plan worked in Iraq where Saddam Hussein’s troops refused to fight the US invaders, according to the 39-page document, published in 2004, and obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.

“Saddam’s 100,000 republic guards, especially the Medina Division, had boasted about their loyalty to him but abandoned the president when the tide of the war started turning against them,” it said.

“After succeeding in its operation of bribery in Iraq, the United States has been trying to use the same tactic toward us. The main targets of such bribery tactics are our military officers.”

The document also claimed that the US Central Intelligence Agency has told the Pentagon to hit North Korea’s military leadership instead of its nuclear facilities as the target of military operations against Pyongyang.

—AFP