Armed forces of the DPRK and South Korea: a comparison. Composition, strength, armament of the DPRK army

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

In our time, 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 it is to live there. Meanwhile, North Korea, although inferior in terms of living standards to the Republic of Korea, is significantly superior in this indicator to the same India, Pakistan, and some countries of Eastern Europe. In addition, the DPRK Armed Forces are among the most powerful, even though they are armed with far from the most modern weapons.

No help and no hope?

Like the entire economy of this closed state, its aircraft are built on a very clever principle. In Russian, it is translated as "reliance on one's own strength." Of course, this country at one time received military assistance from the USSR and China. But now the “lafa” is over: Pyongyang simply has nothing to pay Russia fornew technology, and the PRC is not enthusiastic about the "Juche ideas", even though it officially supports them. However, there is one country that really helps the DPRK. It's about Iran. It is suspected, in particular, that it was from the Iranians that the DPRK Armed Forces received the technologies that made it possible to create nuclear weapons.

So don't underestimate Koreans. The country has a powerful industrial complex that can produce almost all types of more or less modern weapons from scratch. Koreans cannot only make airplanes 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 available there, all information is approximate, based on analysts' estimates.

But do not underestimate their work and intelligence work: in recent years, we have learned a lot of secrets that the DPRK army keeps. The number of Juche troops, by the way, is about 1.2 million people! Our country has about the same army size, but if we compare the sizes of states … It is believed that almost every third adult man and woman serves with the northerners. But! The size of the Armed Forces of the DPRK 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 ROK the situation is much more deplorable. So the forces of the opponents are approximately equal.

The current Minister of the Armed Forces of the DPRK is Hyun Yong-chul. By the way, not so long ago in the press of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the world mediarumors were diligently circulated that he had been shot … But the "innocently murdered" minister soon appeared on the screens and clearly demonstrated that the rumors about his death were somewhat exaggerated.

Missile Forces

The northerners are known to have quite a few nuclear missiles with a decent range. There is information about three divisions "Nodon-1". Each such missile can carry a nuclear warhead at a distance of at least 1,300 kilometers. There is also a whole "brood" of weapons created on the basis of the Soviet R-17 model. Among them are Hwasong-5 missiles (with a range of at least 300 kilometers). The Hwasong-6 model is somewhat better (range - up to 500 kilometers). The Koreans did not ignore the Tochka-U missile either, creating the 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 have also been reports that the development of intercontinental missiles of the Taepodong model is in full swing in the country. 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 warheads of missiles have extremely stringent requirements for reliability and resistance to overloads, and even Iran does not have such technologies.

Two layers of defense

Let's immediately note that the backbone of the Korean echeloned 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 of the northerners there are up to 90 thousandpeople, so they may well be ahead of even the United States in this indicator. There are both land and sea special forces. Of course, the northerners also have other troops 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 later.

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 DPRK Armed Forces will have to start breaking through the border fortifications of the southerners. If the latter start the war, the same echelon will become an obstacle preventing enemy troops from penetrating deep into the country. The first echelon includes four infantry and one artillery corps. The infantry units include tank and aviation regiments, as well as squads of self-propelled artillery units.

The most powerful tank and other motorized units are in the second echelon. Its task, when the DPRK enters the war first, is to develop a breakthrough and destroy those enemy groups that will resist. If the southerners attack the northerners, tank formations will have to eliminate the enemy troops that have broken through, who 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 tiers

In this case, the DPRK army not only has to protect Pyongyang itself, but is also a training base. The structure includes five infantry and oneartillery corps. There are tank, motorized infantry regiments, several branches of MLRS and missile defense. The fourth echelon is located on the border with China and Russia. This includes squads of tankers, self-propelled gunners, anti-aircraft gunners, artillerymen, and light infantry. Like the third, the fourth tier is training and reserve.

Armor is strong

It is believed that the DPRK army has at least five thousand MBTs and about half a thousand light tanks. The backbone is about three thousand T-55s and their Chinese clones (Type-59). There are also about a thousand T-62s. They served as the basis for the creation of their own Korean model "Jongma". Most likely, there are significantly less than a thousand units of these vehicles in the army.

Don't assume that only "antiques" are in service with Koreans. There is a more or less modern type of MBT called "Pokpun-ho". This tank also traces its ancestry to the old T-62, but its creation used technologies that underlie the much more modern T-72 and T-80.

KPVT equipped with a powerful 125mm cannon is presented as an auxiliary weapon. Departing from the topic, let's say that this machine gun among the northerners generally enjoys indescribable honor. For preventive protection against enemy armored vehicles, the Balso-3 ATGM launcher (nothing other than our Kornet) and the Hwa Song Chon MANPADS (an absolute analogue of the Needle-1) can be used. 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.

Easyarmor

The country is armed with about 500 light Soviet PT-76s, as well as about a hundred PT-85 "Shinhen" (created on the basis of the Soviet amphibious tank, equipped with an 85-millimeter gun). How many BMP-1 Koreans have is unknown, but probably a lot. No less than an 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 vehicles and our own designs).

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 the M-1973/83 "Juche-po" (170 mm). These barrels make it easy to get to the territory of the southerners from the rear.

Thus, in terms of the level of equipment, the DPRK army, whose weapons we are considering, is at a fairly high level. Everything would be fine, but all this technology (for the most part) is very outdated. But do not frown contemptuously. In terms of the number of artillery pieces, 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, go into battle, these guns are capable of creating a real sea of \u200b\u200bfire in the front line. Even American aircraft will not help here. All this can be suppressed only by a directed nuclear strike, and hardly anyone will do that.

Aviation "on the hook"

The armed forces of the DPRK, photos of which are repeatedly found inarticle, they are relatively well equipped, but the northerners have a real problem with aviation. In total, the North has no more than 700 aircraft in service. All bombers and attack aircraft are very old, almost the same age as the century. The completely antediluvian MiG-21s are used as fighters … and even the MiG-17s. It is clear that they cannot physically compete with any modern aircraft of this class. But still, there is evidence that the DPRK has a certain number of MiG-29s. But there is no exact information about the number and location of these aircraft.

Transporters The Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea do not have at all. Oddly enough, the country has a certain number of Il-76, Tu-154 and similar aircraft, but they are all intended exclusively for the transportation of high-ranking government officials, as well as for the emergency transfer of some especially necessary cargo. It is known that the northerners have about 300 An-2 ("maize"), as well as a number of their Chinese copies. These planes are designed for covert deployment of special forces groups. In addition, the Korean Air Force has something like 350 multi-purpose and attack helicopters. Among them are not only Soviet Mi-24s, but also several American models, for the purchase of which a whole chain of intermediaries had to be involved.

air defense

So, how does the DPRK army cover the sky? Air defense weapons belong to the Air Force (even ground units). The composition includes truly antique models, including the S-75, S-125 air defense systems. The most modern is the S-200 air defense system. However, the KN-06 is also in service, which is a local variation of the Russian S-300. There are also at least six thousand MANPADS (mainly Iglas), as well as up to 11 thousand various anti-aircraft guns and SPAAGs.

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 vehicles are very old, they are completely unsuitable for modern combat conditions. Again, even the quantity factor practically does not play any role here, because even the Koreans simply have few obsolete aircraft. However, it is simply stupid to completely discount aviation: a large number of mountains, a complex landscape and other factors will make it possible, if necessary, to use even this "zoo" of technical antiques with high efficiency.

So the DPRK army, the number of which is indicated above, in the event of the start of full-scale hostilities, will certainly cause many problems to the opponents.

South Korea

Southern troops trained by the Americans, and armed with their own weapons. It is generally accepted that the army of the Republic of Kazakhstan is much smaller than that of its militant northern neighbor, but this is not at all true: yes, the number of permanently mobilized does not exceed 650 thousand, but there are still 4.5 million people in the reserve. In a word, the forces in terms of human resources are practically equal. In addition, units of the American army are constantly deployed on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Therefore, it is not surprising that the very structure of the troops of the southernersmarkedly different from the Soviet construction familiar to us. So the Armed Forces of the DPRK and the ROK are two antipodes: the northerners have 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 there are up to 560 thousand people. Their classification is very complex, the "land" includes armored, chemical, artillery formations, parts of radiological protection, air defense, and other types of troops. So, in order to compare the Armed Forces of the DPRK and South Korea, it will be useful for us to learn about the resources that the South has.

Basic weapon information

Southerners have at least two thousand tanks. Artillery barrels - about 12 thousand. Anti-tank artillery, including anti-tank systems - also about 12 thousand. There are about a thousand anti-aircraft systems. Also, one of the main striking forces are about one and a half thousand infantry fighting vehicles of various modifications. At least 500 combat attack helicopters are assigned to the ground forces.

There are 22 divisions in total. They are divided into three armies, the leadership of which is at the same time the head of all educational institutions in which young cadres are trained for the army. It should be noted that it is the ground forces that are the core of the common security system of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United States, and the command of the joint Korean and American forces is carried out through a common command center, they work inwhich the officers of both countries.

Interaction of armies

Of course, the Armed Forces of the DPRK and South Korea equally understand the importance of interaction between different branches of the military in battle, but the southerners approached this issue with great diligence. Exercises are almost constantly held, which work out the practice of interaction between armies and military units, and work is being done not only with the United States, but also with Japan and other allies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the region.

Bet on modernity

Southerners rely on the latest developments in military science and technology. Particular attention is paid to the improvement of military intelligence and communications. Moreover, the emphasis is not only on their own developments, 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 launch complexes PU M270 and M270A1 were bought, from which it is possible to launch American ATACMS missiles of the first modification and ATACMS modification 1A. 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 capitals from their territory without putting much effort into it. The northerners have to modernize old Soviet designs for this purpose, while the government of the South prefers to simply buy everything they need from their allies. The step, however, is highly controversial.

The ROK army is not too fond of disclosing information about its weapons. It is only known that the southerners have noless than 250 launchers of both modifications. In addition, there is information about ongoing developments in the field of creating our own missile weapons.

New armor

All the most powerful armies in the region, that is, the army of the DPRK and South Korea, 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 Republic of Kazakhstan has such opportunities. This is how the K1A1 ("Black Panther") model 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. Southerners are proud of their own 155-millimeter K-9 self-propelled howitzers, which are distinguished by their excellent rate of fire and accuracy.

In addition, work is underway to create South Korean military vehicles "Piho" and air defense systems "Chongma". The K200A1 infantry fighting vehicles previously created by the Koreans continue to be relatively actively supplied to the troops. The combat aviation 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 vehicles, the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan intends to purchase new ones abroad. Also, the southerners seriously want to get rid of the antediluvian UH-1 "Iroquois" and "Hughes" 500MD, and therefore, at the same time, work began on the creation of a new multi-purpose military and civilian helicopter.

Unmanned aircraft

Back inIn 2001, the Republic of Kazakhstan, together with Israel, created a UAV of the Night Ingrudsr model. This is a multifunctional device that can be used for military and peaceful purposes, including reconnaissance, strikes against local targets, meteorological research, etc. In 2010, several UAV battalions were formed, each of which has 18-24 drone and up to 64 units of transport and communication equipment. All these measures made it possible to drastically improve the interaction between various branches of the armed forces due to excellent intelligence.