A unit of North Korea’s elite troops participate in a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 8, 2018, in this photo captured from footage released by the North’s state broadcaster.(Yonhap)
It just makes me wonder where all the money is coming from for the Kim regime to build up their nuclear, ballistic missile and conventional military strength like this? Here may be the most important modernization that did not require any money to get:
Additionally, there is reason to believe that Kim Jung Un has had some success in revitalizing the military by instituting new military leadershipafter a rash of executions removed some of the old brass.
Joseph S. Bermudez, an expert on North Korea’s military, told The Washington Post: “I get a sense that when Kim Jong Un came to power, he looked around and said, ‘We have all these old guys running things who haven’t been in the field for 15 or 20 years. We need people who know what they’re talking about.'”
“Before, you had leaders of special forces who couldn’t run a mile. Now, we see artillery division commanders that actually have an artillery background,” Bermudez continued. [Business Insider]
You can read more at the link.
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.
The Russian photographer Aleksei Hermann is holding an exhibition of rare pictures of North Korea in the border city of Belgorod.
Taken between Sept. 21 and Oct. 5 last year, the photos on display show rare sights of the reclusive country.
The exhibition has moved on from Moscow. [Chosun Ilbo]
