EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• North Korea is an oligarchy with Kim Jong Un as its supreme leader.
• The DPRK is a militaristic society with about 1.2 million active duty personnel in uniform out of a population of 24 million (7.7 million in the reserve forces).
• All military personnel serve under the umbrella of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).
• The Korean People’s Air Force (KPAF) and Korean People’s Navy (KPN) primarily support the KPA ground forces.
• The KPAF focuses on homeland defense and close air support to the KPA.
• The KPN’s primary mission is to protect the North Korean coastline and support the KPA special purpose forces (SPF) in mission execution.
• Much of the equipment in all military branches is old and obsolete.
• The KPA has concentrated its modernization efforts on missile technology that may provide the means to successfully launch a nuclear warhead.
• North Korea possesses a nuclear weapon and is modernizing its missile fleet in order to increase the attack range for its nuclear arsenal.
• North Korea possesses both chemical and biological weapons.
• The KPA practices both passive and active camouflage to hide its units, headquarters, and other important resources from the air.