National Defence - Korean Friendship Association

The DPRK holds fast to the principle of self-reliance in national defence. It relies on the all-people, nationwide defence system, the pivot of which is the Korean People’s Army that defends the security of the people-centred socialist system and the gains of revolution.

This defence system makes it possible to frustrate the imperialist forces’ aggressive moves by enlisting the entire population and national strength. It is composed of the standing regular army and non-standing paramilitary forces that are closely combined with fortified defence facilities.

The country has built up impregnable defence facilities all over its territorythe front and the rear, coastal and inland areas-as required by modern warfare. Its defence system is based on the single-hearted unity of all the people who are rallied firmly around the leader and the powerful independent national economy.

The line of simultaneously conducting economic construction and building up the nuclear forces was advanced at the March 2013 Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

This line is aimed at defending the country and people against the US imperialists’ ceaseless nuclear threats and schemes to unleash a war. In accordance with this line, the country has put special emphasis on strengthening its self-reliant defence capability with the nuclear forces as its backbone, thus joining the front rank of world nuclear powers.

Armed Forces of the DPRK

The armed forces of the DPRK are committed to championing the interests of working people, defending the socialist system and the gains of revolution against the aggressive schemes by foreign forces, and safeguarding the freedom, independence and peace of the country.

The country’s regular armed forces are the Korean People’s Army and the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces, and its paramilitary forces are the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and Young Red Guards.

The main stress in strengthening the country’s defence capability is put on implementing the self-defensive military line whose key features are training the entire army into a cadre army and modernizing it, arming all the people and fortifying the whole country, on the basis of the politico-ideological education of the service personnel and other people. Due concern is paid to tightening military discipline and giving full scope to the fine tradition of unity between officers and men and that of army-people unity.

The KPA is a powerful revolutionary army in which the unified command system of the Supreme Commander is thoroughly set up, a force of true comradesin-arms who are firmly united around the Supreme Commander, an elite combat force in which a revolutionary military climate and steel-strong discipline have been established and which has assumed all the features of a regular armed force. Being an invincible revolutionary armed force that is equipped with modern means of attack and defence of Korean style, the KPA can destroy and annihilate at a single stroke any imperialist forces of aggression if they dare to violate the country’s sovereignty and dignity. It is also achieving breakthroughs on every major front of socialist construction for enhancing national prosperity and improving the people’s welfare. The Korean People’s Internal Security Forces have been developed into the dependable guardian of the country under the leadership of the Party, creditably performing their duty of safeguarding the leader, the social system and the people.

The paramilitary forces, including the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, have been developed into revolutionary armed forces whose members are capable of defending their villages by themselves, and the all-people, nationwide defence system has been built up.

National Defence Industry

The country’s military science and technology have now attained the highest level and its defence industry is capable of manufacturing cutting-edge military hardware. Nuclear scientists succeedeq in several rounds of underground nuclear tests and the first H-bomb test, making the DPRK an H-bomb-armed state. Having strengthened the nuclear forces in terms of both quality and quantity in a short period, the country now possesses ballistic missiles for strategic submarine and ICBMs. The country’s defence industry is Juche-oriented in that it relies on domestic resources and technology.

The country has now entered the final stage for the perfection of its nuclear forces and, on September 3, Juche106 (2017), it succeeded in the ICBM-ready H-bomb test.