Is North Korea One of the World’s Worst Armies?

The popular military site, We Are the Mighty has published a list of the 10 worst armies in the world and on it they claim the North Koreans are the third worst:

On the outside, the North Korean Army looks like its the priority for the Kim regime. In many ways, it is. The border towns of Panmunjom and Kaesong, as well as Nampo (where a series of critical infrastructure dams make a concerted military effort necessary) and DPRK newsreel footage boast tall, strong-looking North Korean troops with new equipment, weapons, jeeps, and full meals. Deeper inside the Hermit Kingdom, however, the Army starts to look a bit thin. Literally. On a 2012 trip to North Korea, the author found most Korean People’s Army (KPA) troops to be weak and used mainly for conscripted labor. It would have been a real surprise if they all had shoes or could walk in a real formation. Most units appeared lightly armed, if armed at all.  [We Are the Mighty]

Just because the North Koreans have mandatory conscription which allows the regime to use the military as free labor does not mean the whole military is horrible.  The North Koreans have a very large special operations force of 180,000 troops which is larger than most militaries in the world.  Just keeping those personnel trained and equipped is enough to meet their defense needs while using the rest of the conscripts for work projects and border security.