The Armed Forces of North Korea Volume 1

For much of its existence, North Korea and its armed forces have been shrouded in mystery. Separating fact from fiction was all but impossible, and for lack of better information, the DPRK's military was often trivialised as little more than a clone of the Soviet model. The Armed Forces of North Korea sets out to lift the veil of secrecy and conduct a thorough examination of Pyongyang’s unique military machine, with this revised volume looking in depth at their organisation, strategy and infantry forces.

With both its past and present a mystery, there exists little reliable information on one of the most exotic armed forces in the world today. Having essentially run aground its entire economy for the twin purposes of Juche (self-reliance) and Songun (military first), the DPRK today fields a uniquely diverse inventory of indigenous weaponry, and adheres to a military doctrine unlike any other. This highly unconventional situation is simultaneously one of the most precarious in the world, with the possibility of conflict ever looming on the horizon.

To many, North Korea has become synonymous with the threat of nuclear war, having seen ballistic missiles soar and the ground tremble under a succession of escalating strategic weapons tests. The international focus on this topic has resulted in an imbalance of information, where its equally significant and numerically vast conventional forces are typically ignored. More than just posing a threat in its immense proportions however, the KPA remains a force to reckoned with due to a continuing drive for modernisation, that though struggling under the pressure of a defunct economy appears to be serious in scope and realism. Any assessment of its abilities that omits such developments is invariably inaccurate, and with literature sparse and available sources often disseminating misinformation more than anything else, there is no definitive framework for placing new information about the KPA’s ground forces in its proper context.

Originally published as part of The Armed Forces of North Korea: On The Path Of Songun, the contents have been revised and updated for the Asia@ War series. Volume 1, Part 1, examines the Korean People’s Army Ground Forces’ organisation and strategy, along with the infantry arm, and their often unique fleet of armoured personnel carriers and fire support vehicles.