North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal has dominated international headlines for decades. As thousands of North Korean soldiers head to Russia to help it fight in Ukraine, another age-old threat has surfaced: North Korea has one of the world’s largest conventional armies.

North Korea is a heavily militarized state whose official propaganda calls for “arming the entire population” to defend leader Kim Jong-un with what it calls “rifles and bombs made of flesh and blood.” However, long-standing international sanctions have dealt a severe blow to North Korea’s economy, which was further hurt by famine in the 1990s. To this day, North Korea’s conventional weapons are still mostly Soviet-era and outdated, making them difficult to meet the demands of modern warfare. North Korean pilots face limited opportunities for flight training due to a lack of fuel, and soldiers face difficulties with food, fuel, and logistical support.

In stark contrast, North Korean soldiers serve for eight to ten years, making them some of the most experienced conscripts in the world. Recently, there have been reports that North Korea has sent some of its special forces, one of the five branches of the North Korean military, to Russia. These special forces are responsible for offensive missions. Their training includes sniping and launching attacks from behind enemy lines. North Korea's special forces are large, with about 200,000 soldiers, and they are relatively superior in equipment, training and food.

However, some experts have expressed doubts about the actual combat capabilities of North Korea's special forces. They believe that many of the soldiers who went to Russia are small in size and may not be special forces, but more like engineers, who play a greater role in Kim Jong-un's infrastructure construction projects. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun pointed out that these soldiers do not have combat command and are actually mercenaries used as "cannon fodder".

Size and structure of the Korean People's Army

Despite facing food shortages, North Korea still maintains about 1.3 million active soldiers and 7.6 million reserve soldiers, making the Korean People's Army the fourth largest army in the world. North Korea maintains such a large army through conscription, with men serving for eight to ten years and women for five years. South Korean data shows that the Korean People's Army has 4,300 tanks, 8,800 artillery pieces, 810 fighter jets and 70 submarines.

Under the framework of the "military-first" policy, the North Korean government devotes most of its resources to supporting its military. It is estimated that North Korea spends up to 25% of its GDP on the military each year. In addition, the military also runs a large number of economic activities such as farms, trading companies, fisheries and mining.

After the end of the Cold War, North Korea lost direct military assistance from the Soviet Union and China, resulting in the gradual aging of its conventional weapons systems. To address this problem, Kim Jong-un began a modernization campaign, striving to build so-called asymmetric capabilities, developing nuclear missiles, and stockpiling 5,000 tons of chemical weapons. In addition, North Korea has trained 6,800 hackers capable of conducting cyber attacks.

The combat effectiveness of the North Korean army

Historically, North Korea's special forces have caused significant damage in South Korea. In 1968, they approached the South Korean presidential residence but failed to assassinate the target. Despite the frequent raids by the North Korean army, when faced with enemy pursuit, they often prefer to die and choose suicide rather than be captured. In contrast, the hard life of North Korean soldiers makes their every trip abroad lurking with the risk of defection. Even when working far from home, Pyongyang requires soldiers to stay with their families to prevent defections.

The young North Korean soldiers who go to Russia are mostly a generation that grew up after the famine of the 1990s. For them, being able to step out of the country may be their first exposure to a free and wealthy world. Photos recently released by North Korean state media show young people, including students and young cadres, signing petitions to join or return to the army.

The role of the Korean People's Army in society

In this impoverished country, the military is the basis of survival for many people. Military service is seen as a prerequisite for joining the ruling Workers' Party, which is a symbol of achieving the highest status. Like the Russian army, the Korean People's Army has a strict command structure. However, long service has led to a large number of experienced soldiers within the army, whose status is equivalent to non-commissioned officers in the US military, but most ordinary soldiers are affected by chronic food shortages and corruption. In 2017, a North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea was found to be riddled with parasites, reflecting the soldiers' difficult life.

North Korea has long emphasized in state propaganda that "arming the whole people" and using "rifles and bombs made of flesh and blood" to protect Kim Jong-un. After becoming leader at the age of 27, Kim Jong-un quickly took control of the military and carried out a series of purges to ensure that officers loyal to him were in key positions. The military not only participated in state construction, but also filled the treasury through arms sales and cyber theft. Kim Jong-un knows that the military threat of the Korean People's Army is an effective bargaining chip to force Washington to sit down at the negotiating table.

"The North Korean military is the foundation of Kim Jong-un's regime's survival," said Lee Seong-yun, a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "It is not only a powerful tool of the country, but also an economic model used by Kim Jong-un to blackmail the outside world." Over the past 30 years, Pyongyang has obtained tens of billions of dollars in cash and various material assistance through threats and double-dealing strategies in denuclearization negotiations.