North Korean Small Arms?

[Marathonman]

In the Korean People's Army, is the AK the standard issue? I guess we are talking about up to 5,800,000 of them.

According to Wikipedia :

North Korea is the most militarized country in the world today[3], having the fifth largest standing army in the world, at an estimated 1.1 million armed personnel, with about 20% of men ages 17–54 in the regular armed forces.[4] It also has the Worker-Peasant Red Guard, a reserve force comprising 3.5m+ (IISS), 3.8m (USMC) or 4.7m (State Department) militia.

 

[danprkr]

I don't know, but that sure is a pretty one in the picture.

 

[lykoris]

Iraq had the fourth largest land army in the world before the 1st gulf war, that didn't prevent them being thrown out of Kuwait and running back to Iraq.

Numbers don't mean much, equipment, training, morale, leadership & tactics account for a whole lot more.

That said, I would never want to go to war with the PLA.

 

[lykoris]

think the latest figure for US military budget is 642bn...going on memory so I could be off a little.

no other country in the world spends as much as the US....the variation in military spending between the US (always no. 1) and other countries is staggering.

N. Korea is worrying, now they have nuclear weapons - Number of active duty soldiers doesn't mean much when you factor that in either.

 

[Deanimator]

I used to teach classes on the DPRK military when I was in Korea.

1. They have a huge army, which they can barely provision at spartan levels.
2. In the '70s, they had more artillery on the DMZ than the US HAD. Much of it can reach Seoul.
3. They have a very large contingent of special operations forces, the "Light Infantry Brigades".
4. They have an extensive tunnel system under the DMZ.
5. They can doubtless get across the DMZ. They can probably get to Seoul. By the time they get to Seoul, they probably won't have an army. The US, ROK and Japanese air forces will slaughter them in biblical numbers which will make the "highway of death" look like a gay pride parade. Night time is no longer any protection for them at all.

Kim Jong Il can start a war and kill millions of people on both sides. He just can't win.

The smartest thing the Chinese can do is to assassinate Kim and anybody who won't play ball with them, turn the country back into the Chinese protectorate it's always been, then allow Chinese business men to buy up the country's "assets" so that North Korea can finally export something to them besides sex slaves.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

The US, ROK and Japanese air forces will slaughter them in biblical numbers which will make the "highway of death" look like a gay pride parade.

That's sort of impolite, but very funny!

Here's to hoping Kim Jong Il dies sooner than expected, and before he can issue deathbed orders. Otherwise, the only thing that would save South Korea is nerve gas and neutron bombs, and I also hope we have plenty of both in theater.

 

[Boris Barowski]

sure, and they export them too.
I read that they are available at the african arms market.

I wonder if they are any good. They can barely produce anything, but they also have a military-first policy and apparently can develop a nuke