WIREDGOV

Stirred on by engagement in the War in Ukraine – and buoyed by resources through reciprocal arrangements with Russia – North Korea is seeing rapid development in modernising its military.

It is well known that there are 12,000 North Korean military personnel in the Kursk part of Ukraine who have been supporting Russian troops since October 2024. The combat experience of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) and what they have learned from on-the-ground experience has also been discussed in the Wall Street Journal and other publications, with Ukrainian military intelligence initially criticising KPA infantry tactics as ‘cannon fodder’, emphasising direct charges on Ukrainian positions. Over time, however, KPA units have adapted and adjusted to the new style of warfare in Ukraine and begun integrating reconnaissance drone intelligence directly into artillery and MLRS fire-control loops, compressing the sensor-to-shooter cycle from hours to minutes. In addition to processing this tactical battlefield experience, it is clear that the North Korean military is making systematic and long-term changes to KPA equipment, doctrine and building a defence industrial eco-system to support those changes. 

This is significant because for the past 30 years, North Korea’s military – while larger than that of the South – has been built on a foundation of a mixture of modern and out-of-date, Soviet-era equipment and doctrine. Remarkably, the KPA still fields many systems considered obsolete by other nations. For example, the KPA Ground Force still fields indigenous versions of Russian tanks like the T-54 and T-62 from the 1950s and 60s, and while the Korean People’s Army Air Force (KPAF) they still maintain MiG-15s, 16s and 19s, from the 1950s, though they do some modern capabilities such as the MiG-29 and Su-25 ground attack aircraft. This mixture of aged and recent equipment brings with it sustainment and production challenges.

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