The Korean People's Army (KPA) , also known as the People's Army (Chosŏn'gŭl: 인민군; Inmin Gun), are the military forces of North Korea. Kim Jong-un is the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the National Defence Commission. The KPA consists of five branches, Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force. Also, the Worker-Peasant Red Guards come under control of the KPA.
In 1971, Kim Il-sung directed that "Military Foundation Day" be changed from 8 February to 25 April, the nominal day of establishment of his anti-Japanese guerrilla army in 1932, to recognize the supposedly indigenous Korean origins of the KPA and obscure its Soviet origin. An active arms industry had been developed to produce long-range missiles such as the Nodong-1.
The KPA faces its primary adversaries, the Military of South Korea and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. As of 2013, with 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel, it is the largest military organization on earth.
Conscription and terms of service
North Korea has universal conscription for males and selective conscription for females with many pre- and post-service requirements. North Korea has a mandatory service that ranges between 3 and 5 years. Article 86 of the North Korean Constitution states, "Defending the fatherland is the supreme duty and honor of citizens. Citizens shall defend the fatherland and serve in the armed forces as prescribed by law". Long before Kim Jong-il instituted "military-first" politics as his governing strategy, an individual was able to improve one’s status through service in the Military. However, not everybody is able to join the Army. North Korea maintains a universal draft and excludes those who are not physically able to perform, as do all other militaries. However, North Korea also excludes individuals based on their social-political background.
Those who receive military training must be unconditionally loyal to the Party, and those perceived as enemies of the state are not permitted to possess a weapon. In determining service eligibility in the Korean People’s Army, "Songbun" in effect determines a person’s lifelong career as well. If one serves in the military, one goes through three levels of investigation by three different internal security agencies where Songbun is a central consideration in each investigation.
After entering military service, the Korean People’s Army Military Security Command begins a new file in a process parallel to the MPS investigation process and at the same time processes an identification card. The military identification card is distinct from the civilian citizen registration card that all North Koreans carry. After leaving the military and being assigned to a civilian occupation, the local MPS and SSD receive copies of the songbun file from the military which forwards the file through official Military Security Command-Ministry of People's Security-State Security Department channels.
KPA soldiers serve 10 years in the military, which runs its own factories, farms and trading arms.
2013년 3월 30일 토요일
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK) declared in 2009 that it had developed a nuclear weapon, and is widely believed to possess a small stockpile of relatively simple nuclear weapons. The CIA assesses that North Korea also has a substantial arsenal of chemical weapons. North Korea was a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but withdrew in 2003, citing the failure of the United States to fulfill its end of the Agreed Framework, a 1994 agreement between the states to limit North Korea's nuclear ambitions, begin normalization of relations, and help North Korea supply some energy needs through nuclear reactors. The IAEA has met with Ri Je Son, The Director General of the General Department of Atomic Energy (GDAE) of DPRK, to discuss nuclear matters. Ri Je Son was also mentioned in this role in 2002 in a United Nations article.
On October 9, 2006, the North Korean government issued an announcement that it had successfully conducted a nuclear test for the first time. Both the United States Geological Survey and Japanese seismological authorities detected an earthquake with a preliminary estimated magnitude of 4.3 in North Korea, corroborating some aspects of the North Korean claims. On January 6, 2007, the North Korean government further confirmed that it had nuclear weapons.
In April 2009, reports surfaced that North Korea has become a "fully fledged nuclear power", an opinion shared by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. On May 25, 2009, North Korea conducted another nuclear test, which is believed to have been the cause of a magnitude 4.7 seismic event. Although there is no official information about the test's location, it is believed that it happened at the site of the first nuclear test at Mantapsan, Kilju County, in the north-eastern part of North Korea. By 2016, North Korea could have 14 to 48 "nuclear weapon equivalents." (For uranium weapons, each weapon is assumed to contain 20 kilograms of weapon-grade uranium.)
On February 11, 2013, the USGS detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, reported to be a third underground nuclear test. North Korea has officially reported it as a successful nuclear test with a lighter warhead, and yet delivers more force than before without mentioning the exact yield. South Korean sources put the yield estimation at 6 to 7kt of TNT However, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, a state-run geology research institute in Germany, estimated the yield at 40 kilotons. while South Korean sources later revised the yield to 6-9 kilotons using the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s calculation method. The Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources estimated the yield as 7.7-7.8 kilotons.
On October 9, 2006, the North Korean government issued an announcement that it had successfully conducted a nuclear test for the first time. Both the United States Geological Survey and Japanese seismological authorities detected an earthquake with a preliminary estimated magnitude of 4.3 in North Korea, corroborating some aspects of the North Korean claims. On January 6, 2007, the North Korean government further confirmed that it had nuclear weapons.
In April 2009, reports surfaced that North Korea has become a "fully fledged nuclear power", an opinion shared by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. On May 25, 2009, North Korea conducted another nuclear test, which is believed to have been the cause of a magnitude 4.7 seismic event. Although there is no official information about the test's location, it is believed that it happened at the site of the first nuclear test at Mantapsan, Kilju County, in the north-eastern part of North Korea. By 2016, North Korea could have 14 to 48 "nuclear weapon equivalents." (For uranium weapons, each weapon is assumed to contain 20 kilograms of weapon-grade uranium.)
On February 11, 2013, the USGS detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, reported to be a third underground nuclear test. North Korea has officially reported it as a successful nuclear test with a lighter warhead, and yet delivers more force than before without mentioning the exact yield. South Korean sources put the yield estimation at 6 to 7kt of TNT However, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, a state-run geology research institute in Germany, estimated the yield at 40 kilotons. while South Korean sources later revised the yield to 6-9 kilotons using the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s calculation method. The Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources estimated the yield as 7.7-7.8 kilotons.
2013년 3월 8일 금요일
Seoul vows to strike origin, command posts of N.K. attacks
The South Korean military notched up its defense posture on Wednesday and vowed stern punishment against North Korea’s provocations after Pyongyang warned of retaliation for imminent U.N. Security Council sanctions and Seoul-Washington joint military drills.
North Korea’s military leadership late Tuesday threatened to launch “nuclear strikes,” annul the inter-Korean truce, close its office in the border village of Panmunjom, and cut off its military hotline with the United Nations Command.
“The drills are, as the North was informed, annual South Korea-U.S. joint exercises for the defense of the Korean Peninsula,” said Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-hyun, the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s head of operations, at a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Seoul.
“If North Korea nonetheless pushes ahead with provocations that would threaten the lives and safety of our citizens, our military will strongly and sternly punish the provocations’ starting point, its supporting forces and command. We are making it clear that all preparations are completed.”
The heightened threat was carried in a statement by the Supreme Command of the (North) Korean People’s Army and announced by Kim Yong-chol, the hard-line chief of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau. He was lately reinstated to a four-star general three months after being demoted to two-star rank.
The RGB is believed to have masterminded a series of attacks against the South including the sinking of the corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, both in 2010, and a 2011 cyber attack that paralyzed the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation’s banking system for several weeks.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council will approve its fourth batch of sanctions as early as Thursday in punishment of Pyongyang for its nuclear test on Feb. 12. The newest measures are expected to include asset freezes, tighter cargo inspection, travel bans for core individuals and restrictions on the transfer of bulk cash.
Seoul and Washington started their Foal Eagle field training program on March 1 for a two-month run and are scheduled to launch 10-day computer-simulated drills named Key Resolve on Monday.
The North is also predicted to stage a nationwide military exercise next week, mobilizing a standing army and backup forces including laborers and farmers.
Late last month, Pak Rim-su, the North Korean military representative at Panmunjom, sent a telephone message to U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. James Thurman and warned against “a war of aggression by staging the reckless joint military exercises.”
“When the war exercises reach their main phase after March 11, the Korean War armistice agreement, which has existed in its name only, will come to an end,” the KPA statement reads.
To better cope with escalating tensions, Cheong Wa Dae said it will hold a chief secretary meeting every morning under Chief of Staff Huh Tae-yeol.
Concerns are rising over President Park Geun-hye’s ability to handle the high-stake issue with the much-touted national security office still not in place amid festering partisan disputes over her overall government reshuffle plans and an ensuing administrative vacuum.
The Tuesday meeting took place without Kim Jang-soo, a former defense minister who was named to steer the organization. He is being separately briefed on the situation and related developments, government sources said.
“We are under abnormal conditions in which Kim is unable to attend the senior secretary meeting because of delays in passing the government reform bill,” presidential spokesperson Yoon Chang-jung told reporters early in the day.
“But the National Security Office is substantively examining and responding to the situation in close cooperation with the administration including the Defense Ministry and military.”
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
North Korea’s military leadership late Tuesday threatened to launch “nuclear strikes,” annul the inter-Korean truce, close its office in the border village of Panmunjom, and cut off its military hotline with the United Nations Command.
“The drills are, as the North was informed, annual South Korea-U.S. joint exercises for the defense of the Korean Peninsula,” said Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-hyun, the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s head of operations, at a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Seoul.
“If North Korea nonetheless pushes ahead with provocations that would threaten the lives and safety of our citizens, our military will strongly and sternly punish the provocations’ starting point, its supporting forces and command. We are making it clear that all preparations are completed.”
The heightened threat was carried in a statement by the Supreme Command of the (North) Korean People’s Army and announced by Kim Yong-chol, the hard-line chief of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau. He was lately reinstated to a four-star general three months after being demoted to two-star rank.
The RGB is believed to have masterminded a series of attacks against the South including the sinking of the corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, both in 2010, and a 2011 cyber attack that paralyzed the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation’s banking system for several weeks.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council will approve its fourth batch of sanctions as early as Thursday in punishment of Pyongyang for its nuclear test on Feb. 12. The newest measures are expected to include asset freezes, tighter cargo inspection, travel bans for core individuals and restrictions on the transfer of bulk cash.
Seoul and Washington started their Foal Eagle field training program on March 1 for a two-month run and are scheduled to launch 10-day computer-simulated drills named Key Resolve on Monday.
The North is also predicted to stage a nationwide military exercise next week, mobilizing a standing army and backup forces including laborers and farmers.
Late last month, Pak Rim-su, the North Korean military representative at Panmunjom, sent a telephone message to U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. James Thurman and warned against “a war of aggression by staging the reckless joint military exercises.”
“When the war exercises reach their main phase after March 11, the Korean War armistice agreement, which has existed in its name only, will come to an end,” the KPA statement reads.
To better cope with escalating tensions, Cheong Wa Dae said it will hold a chief secretary meeting every morning under Chief of Staff Huh Tae-yeol.
Concerns are rising over President Park Geun-hye’s ability to handle the high-stake issue with the much-touted national security office still not in place amid festering partisan disputes over her overall government reshuffle plans and an ensuing administrative vacuum.
The Tuesday meeting took place without Kim Jang-soo, a former defense minister who was named to steer the organization. He is being separately briefed on the situation and related developments, government sources said.
“We are under abnormal conditions in which Kim is unable to attend the senior secretary meeting because of delays in passing the government reform bill,” presidential spokesperson Yoon Chang-jung told reporters early in the day.
“But the National Security Office is substantively examining and responding to the situation in close cooperation with the administration including the Defense Ministry and military.”
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
U.N. approves new sanctions against North Korea
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, and a furious Pyongyang threatened a nuclear strike against the United States.
The sanctions drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the United States send a powerful message that the international community condemns Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear tests _ and repeated violations of Security Council resolutions.
“Adoption of the resolution itself is not enough,” China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said. “We want to see full implementation of the resolution.” Li also urged calm and a resumption of the stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
“The top priority now is to defuse the tensions, bring down heat ... bring the situation back on the track of diplomacy, on negotiations,” Li said.
North Korea's nuclear test in February was the first since the country's young new leader, Kim Jong Un, took charge amid questions of whether he would steer the country on a different course. The North's threats sharpened Thursday with the first reference to a preemptive nuclear attack.
Immediately before the vote, an unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is “set to light a fuse for a nuclear war.”
The statement was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, which issued no immediate comment after the Security Council vote.
In Pyongyang, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington, which “will be engulfed in a sea of fire.”
The White House responded by saying the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korea ballistic missile attack.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.
The United States has long been concerned that North Korea could eventually pose a missile threat to U.S. territory. The Defense Department first began to operate a ground-based missile defense system in late 2004 with such a potential threat in mind.
“North Korea must wake up from its delusion of becoming a ... nuclear weapons state and make the right choice,” said South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said. “It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction.”
(AP)
The sanctions drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the United States send a powerful message that the international community condemns Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear tests _ and repeated violations of Security Council resolutions.
“Adoption of the resolution itself is not enough,” China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said. “We want to see full implementation of the resolution.” Li also urged calm and a resumption of the stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
“The top priority now is to defuse the tensions, bring down heat ... bring the situation back on the track of diplomacy, on negotiations,” Li said.
North Korea's nuclear test in February was the first since the country's young new leader, Kim Jong Un, took charge amid questions of whether he would steer the country on a different course. The North's threats sharpened Thursday with the first reference to a preemptive nuclear attack.
Immediately before the vote, an unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is “set to light a fuse for a nuclear war.”
The statement was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, which issued no immediate comment after the Security Council vote.
In Pyongyang, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington, which “will be engulfed in a sea of fire.”
The White House responded by saying the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korea ballistic missile attack.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.
The United States has long been concerned that North Korea could eventually pose a missile threat to U.S. territory. The Defense Department first began to operate a ground-based missile defense system in late 2004 with such a potential threat in mind.
“North Korea must wake up from its delusion of becoming a ... nuclear weapons state and make the right choice,” said South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said. “It can either take the right path toward a bright future and prosperity, or it can take a bad road toward further and deeper isolation and eventual self-destruction.”
(AP)
N. Korea says will sever hot-line with Seoul, nullify
North Korea will sever its hot-line with Seoul and nullify non-aggression agreements between the countries, the state-run news agency said Friday amid escalating tensions over the North's nuclear test last month.
"The DPRK abrogates all agreements on nonaggressions reached between the North and the South," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a propaganda organ against the South, said in a statement.
"The DPRK will close the Panmunjom liaison channel between the north and the south," said the English statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. DPRK is the short for the country's official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The statement came hours after the United Nations unanimously adopted a resolution to punish the communist country for its internationally-condemned underground nuclear test on Feb. 12.
(Yonhap News)
"The DPRK abrogates all agreements on nonaggressions reached between the North and the South," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a propaganda organ against the South, said in a statement.
"The DPRK will close the Panmunjom liaison channel between the north and the south," said the English statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. DPRK is the short for the country's official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The statement came hours after the United Nations unanimously adopted a resolution to punish the communist country for its internationally-condemned underground nuclear test on Feb. 12.
(Yonhap News)
피드 구독하기:
글 (Atom)