The Armed Forces of North Korea: Volume 1 - Ground Forces

Book excerpt: Modernity has lifted the obsessive veil of secrecy in military innovation in all but one country: North Korea. 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 modernization, 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. This book aims to provide precisely such a framework by setting out its history in detail and mapping pretty much all there is to know about the DPRK's current military endeavors. This comprehensive information is accompanied by well over 150 unique images, most of which have never been seen by the general public. Furthermore, sixteen gorgeous artworks provide a better look at those armaments that have managed to evade getting caught on camera, or that deserve being highlighted in perfect detail. Subsequently published volumes will complete a small series on North Korea's elusive military, giving both the casual reader as well as those with a professional interest a complete overview of even the most secretive aspects of a military that is unlike any other.