Nowadays, the DPRK is often compared with the great and terrible Mordor. Like the latter, almost nothing is known about Korea, but everyone knows how hard and scary to live there. Meanwhile, North Korea, although inferior to the Republic of Korea in terms of living standards, significantly surpasses India, Pakistan, and some countries of Eastern Europe in this indicator. In addition, the DPRK Armed Forces are among the most powerful, albeit armed with far from the most modern weapons.
No help and no hope?
Like the entire economy of this closed state, its armed forces are built on a very clever principle. It is translated into Russian as "self-reliance." Of course, this country at one time received military assistance from the USSR and China. Just now, the “Lafa” has ended: Pyongyang simply has nothing to pay Russia for new equipment, and China is not enthusiastic about the “Juche idea”, although it officially supports them. However, there is one country that really helps the DPRK. It is about Iran. In particular, they suspect that it was from the Iranians that the DPRK Armed Forces received technologies that made it possible to create nuclear weapons.
Therefore, do not underestimate the Koreans. The country has a powerful industrial complex that can produce from scratch almost all types of more or less modern weapons. Koreans cannot make only planes and helicopters, but they are easily engaged in their screwdriver assembly, provided that imported components are available. Since the DPRK is an extremely closed state, there is no exact information about the troops and equipment there, all information is approximate, based on analysts' estimates.
But do not underestimate their work and the work of intelligence: in recent years, we have learned many secrets that the DPRK army keeps. The Juche force, by the way, is about 1.2 million people! Our country’s army size is about the same, but if we compare the size of states … It is believed that almost every third adult man and woman serve among the northerners. But! The strength of the DPRK Armed Forces is significantly inferior to that of the South. The advantage of the DPRK is that almost the entire adult and capable population of the country is somehow related to the army, but in the Republic of Kazakhstan the situation with this is much worse. So the forces of the opponents are approximately equal.
Currently, the Minister of the Armed Forces of the DPRK is Hyun Young Chul. By the way, not so long ago, in the press of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the world media, rumors were carefully circulated that he had been shot … But the “innocent killed” minister soon appeared on the screens and clearly demonstrated that the rumors of his death were somewhat exaggerated.
Missile forces
It is known that the northerners have a lot of nuclear missiles with a decent range. There is information about the three divisions of Nodon-1. Each such missile can carry a nuclear warhead at a distance of at least 1.3 thousand kilometers. There is also a whole "brood" of weapons created on the basis of the Soviet model R-17. Among them are Hwasong-5 missiles (range of at least 300 kilometers). The Hwasong-6 model is slightly better (range of up to 500 kilometers). The Koreans also did not ignore the Tochka-U missile, having created KN-02 on its basis. The DPRK is also armed with real antiques in the form of the Luna-M model.
In recent years, there has also been evidence that the country is in full swing the development of intercontinental missiles model "Tehodhod." Almost all experts agree that the DPRK Armed Forces do not have specialists capable of creating nuclear warheads for them. The fact is that such missile warheads have extremely stringent requirements for reliability and resistance to overloads, and even the same Iran does not have such technologies.
Two echelons of defense
Just note that the backbone of the Korean layered defense are special forces, and in such quantities that other countries have not even dreamed of. It is known that in the forces of special operations northerners are up to 90 thousand people, so that they may well outperform even the United States in this indicator. There are both ground and marine special forces. Of course, other troops among the northerners are in abundance. This is how the Armed Forces of the DPRK are arranged in general terms, the composition of which will be discussed in more detail below.
Their first echelon is located on the border with South Korea and consists of infantry and artillery formations. If North Korea is the first to enter the war, the Armed Forces of the DPRK will have to begin breaking through the border fortifications of the southerners. If the last ones start the war, the same echelon will become an obstacle preventing the penetration of enemy forces deep into the country. In the first echelon are four infantry and one artillery corps. The infantry divisions include tank and aviation regiments, as well as self-propelled artillery units.
In the second tier are the most powerful tank and other motorized units. When entering the DPRK war, his task first is to develop a breakthrough and destroy those enemy groups that will resist. In the event that southerners attack the northerners, tank formations will have to liquidate the erupted enemy troops, which will be able to pass through the first echelon. These units include not only tank and self-propelled regiments, but also MLRS units.
Third and fourth echelons
In this case, the DPRK army should not only defend Pyongyang itself, but it is also a training base. The structure includes five infantry and one artillery corps. There are tank and motorized infantry regiments, several MLRS and missile defense units. The fourth tier is located on the border with China and Russia. These include departments of tankers, self-propelled guns, anti-aircraft gunners, artillerymen, light infantry. Like the third, the fourth echelon is training and reserve.
The armor is strong
It is believed that the DPRK army has at least five thousand MBTs and about five hundred light tanks. The backbone is about three thousand T-55 and their Chinese clones (Type-59). There are also about a thousand T-62s. They served as the basis for creating their own Korean model, "Chonma." Most likely, these vehicles in the troops are much less than a thousand units.
Do not assume that the arsenal of the Koreans is only "antiques". There is a more or less modern version of MBT called Pokpun-ho. This tank also has its pedigree from the old T-62, but when it was created, the technologies underlying the much more modern T-72 and T-80 were used.
As an auxiliary weapon, the KPVT is presented, equipped with a powerful 125-mm gun. Departing from the topic, we say that this machine gun among the northerners generally enjoys an indescribable honor. For preventive protection against enemy armored vehicles can be used PU ATGM "Balso-3" (nothing like our "Cornet") and MANPADS "Hwa Son Chon" (an absolute analogue of "Needle-1"). It is difficult to say how all this will behave in battle, but no other tank in the world has such weapons in principle. Presumably, the DPRK army has no more than 200-300 Songun-915 tanks.
Light armor
The country's arsenal has about 500 light Soviet PT-76s, as well as about a hundred PT-85 Shinhen (a Soviet-built amphibious tank equipped with an 85-mm gun). How many BMP-1 Koreans have is unknown, but certainly a lot. No less and armored personnel carrier. It is assumed that the DPRK has at least a thousand very antique BTR-40 and BTR-152. But still there are about 150 analogues of the Soviet BTR-80A (both Soviet cars and their own developments).
Gods of war
The DPRK army is armed with at least five thousand self-propelled guns, about four thousand towed guns, about eight thousand mortars of various designs, about the same number of MLRS systems. The real pride of the northerners is M-1973/83 Juche-po (170 mm). These trunks make it easy to get to the territory of the southerners from the deep rear.
Thus, in terms of equipment, the DPRK army, the armament of which we are considering, is at a fairly high level. Everything would be fine, but all this technique (for the most part) is very outdated. But do not scorn contemptuously. By the number of artillery, the DPRK is in second place in the world, second only to the PLA. Even if the troops of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the support of the United States and move into battle, these guns are able to create a real sea of fire in the frontline. Even American aviation will not help here. All this can be suppressed only with a directed nuclear strike, and hardly anyone will do that.
Aircraft "on the fly"
The DPRK Armed Forces, photos of which are repeatedly found in the article, are equipped relatively well, but the northerners have real trouble with aviation. In total, the arsenal of the North has no more than 700 aircraft. All bombers and attack aircraft are very old, almost the same age as the century. As fighters, the completely antediluvian MiG-21s … and even the MiG-17s are used. It is clear that with any modern aircraft of this class it is impossible for them to compete purely physically. But still there is evidence that in the DPRK there is a certain amount of MiG-29. But there is no exact information about the number and basing of these aircraft.
The Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea do not have transporters at all. Oddly enough, the country has a certain number of IL-76, Tu-154 and similar aircraft, but all of them are intended solely for the transportation of high-ranking government officials, as well as for emergency transfers of some particularly necessary cargoes. It is known that the northerners have about 300 An-2s (“corn maize”), as well as some of their Chinese counterparts. These planes are designed for covert transfer of special forces groups. In addition, the Korean Air Force has about 350 multipurpose and attack helicopters. Among them are not only Soviet Mi-24s, but also several American models, for the purchase of which they had to use a whole chain of intermediaries.
Air defense
So, what does the DPRK army cover the sky with? Air defense armament belongs to the Air Force (even ground units). The composition includes truly antique models, including S-75, S-125 air defense systems. The most modern is the S-200 air defense system. However, the KN-06, which is a local variation of the Russian S-300, is also in service. There are also at least six thousand MANPADS (mainly “Needles”), as well as up to 11 thousand different kinds of anti-aircraft guns and ZSU.
Unlike the ground forces, whose outdated equipment can more or less cope with the tasks assigned to it, everything is bad in aviation. Almost all the cars are very old, they are completely unsuitable for modern conditions of warfare. Again, even the quantity factor plays practically no role here, because even Koreans simply have few obsolete aircraft. However, it is simply foolish to completely discount aviation: a large number of mountains, difficult terrain and other factors will make it possible to use even this “zoo” of technical antiques with high efficiency.
So the DPRK army, the strength of which is indicated above, in the case of the beginning of full-scale hostilities will certainly cause many problems to the opponents.
South Korea
The troops of the southerners are trained by the Americans, and are armed with their own weapons. It is generally accepted that the army of the Republic of Kazakhstan is much smaller than that of its warlike northern neighbor, but this is not at all the case: yes, the number of constantly mobilized does not exceed 650 thousand, but there are still 4.5 million in reserve. In short, the human resources are almost equal. In addition, units of the American army are constantly deployed on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. And therefore it is not surprising that the structure of the troops of the southerners is noticeably different from the Soviet structure habitual to us. So the Armed Forces of the DPRK and the Republic of Kazakhstan are two antipodes: the northerners possess numerous, but outdated weapons, while the south has fewer “means of democratization, ” but the quality of their weapons is much better.
The most numerous are the ground forces, in whose ranks up to 560 thousand people serve. Their classification is very complicated, the “land” includes armored, chemical, artillery units, radiological defense units, air defense, and other types of troops. So, to make a comparison of the Armed Forces of the DPRK and South Korea, it will be useful for us to find out about the resources that the South possesses.
Armament Essentials
Southerners have at least two thousand tanks. Artillery barrels - about 12 thousand. Anti-tank artillery, including anti-tank systems, is also about 12 thousand. There are about a thousand anti-aircraft systems. Also, one and a half thousand infantry fighting vehicles of various modifications are one of the main striking forces. At least 500 combat attack helicopters are assigned to the ground forces.
In total there are 22 divisions. They are divided into three armies, whose leadership is at the same time the command of all the educational institutions in which young personnel are trained for the army. Note that it is the ground forces that are the core of the general security system of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United States, and the command of the combined Korean and American forces is carried out through a common command center, in which officers of both countries work.
Army interaction
Of course, the Armed Forces of the DPRK and South Korea equally understand the importance of interaction between the various arms in the battle, but the southerners approached this issue with great care. Practically constant exercises are held at which the practice of interaction between armies and military units is practiced, and work is conducted not only with the United States, but also with Japan and other allies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in this region.
Bet on the present
Southerners rely on the latest developments in the field of military science and technology. Particular attention is paid to improving military intelligence and communications. Moreover, the emphasis is not only on our own development, but also on those samples that were purchased from the United States in the form of finished products or technologies. It was from the Americans that the PU launch systems M270 and M270A1 were bought, from which American ATACMS missiles of the first modification and ATACMS modifications 1A can be launched. In the first case, the range of fire is 190 kilometers, in the second - 300 kilometers.
Simply put, the Armed Forces of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea are completely equivalent in this regard: they can get the enemy’s capital from their territory without putting too much effort into it. For this purpose, the northerners have to modernize the old Soviet developments, while the government of the South prefers just to buy everything from its allies. The step, however, is very controversial.
The army of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not like to disclose information about its weapons. It is only known that southerners have at least 250 launchers of both modifications. In addition, there is information about ongoing developments in the field of creating their own missile weapons.
New armor
All the most powerful armies in the region, that is, the DPRK and South Korean army, attach great importance to the creation and development of powerful armored forces. But if the northerners do not have the resources to create their own tanks from scratch, then the RK has such opportunities. This is how the K1A1 model (Black Panther) was created. The predecessor of the new tank was the old KI modification. Note that the remaining 200 units of these tanks are currently being upgraded to the Panther level. The pride of the southerners are the 155-mm self-propelled howitzers K-9 of their own design, characterized by excellent rate of fire and accuracy.
In addition, work is underway to create South Korean combat vehicles "Piho" and SAM "Cheonma". Previously created by the Koreans BMP K200A1 continue to be relatively active in the supply of troops. The combat aircraft fleet also continues to be updated: in particular, it has recently become known about the complete modernization of the attack helicopter fleet. In addition to the overhaul of existing machines, the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan intends to purchase new ones abroad. Also, southerners seriously want to get rid of the antediluvian UH-1 Iroquois and Hughes 500MD, and therefore work began on the creation of a new multi-purpose helicopter for military and civilian purposes.
