Military power of North Korea & USA
North Korea vs USA
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North Korea is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 120,540 km2 (land boundries: 1,607 km and costline 2,495 km). The capital of North Korea is Pyongyang. The number of inhabitants is 25,549,604.
The KPA is equipped with older weapon systems originally acquired from the former Soviet Union, Russia, and China, as well as some domestically-produced equipment. The North Korea produces a diverse array of military hardware like light armored vehicles, tanks, naval vessels and submarines, and advanced weapons systems, such as ballistic missiles. North Korea developing also nuclear weapons.
More about North Korea militaryUSA is a country located in North America with an area of 9,857,306 km2 (land boundries: 12,002 km and costline 19,924 km). The capital of USA is Washington. The number of inhabitants is 331,449,281.
The United States is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems. The United States is the world's leading arms exporter.
More about USA militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 KP |  US | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 1.6 billion $ | 816 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 4.9% | 3.3% |
Manpower
| KP | US | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 1,280,000 | 1,358,500 |
| Reserve personnel: | 600,000 | 799,500 |
| Available for military: | 6,515,279 | 73,270,043 |
Land Forces
| KP | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 6,000 | 6,612 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 4,000 | 41,237 | |
| Total artillery: | 13,000 | 4,243 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 4,500 | 1,498 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 4,000 | 1,366 |
Air Forces
| KP | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 960 | 12,930 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 349 | 461 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 35 | 2,417 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 188 | 566 | |
| Helicopters: | 202 | 4,741 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 0 | 334 |
Navy
| KP | US | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 967 | 460 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 0 | 20 | |
| Destroyers: | 0 | 94 | |
| Frigates: | 2 | 0 | |
| Corvettes: | 8 | 22 | |
| Submarines: | 72 | 69 |
☢ Nuclear weapons
North Korea
Although at the beginning North Korea joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, they withdrew from it on January 2003. It was a consequence of the United States accusation. The USA government claimed that North Korea was unofficially funding a program of uranium enrichment. Because of that, they cancelled the 1994 Agreed Framework treaty and cut off the energy assistance. Two years after withdrawing, the officials from North Korea claimed that they own operational nuclear arsenal. In spite of North Koreans assurances, the United States did not believe that North Korea really posses such weapons. As a result, the government of North Korea decided to conduct tests.
There were three tests that North Korea initially conducted. The first one, with the yield of less than a kiloton, took place in 2006. However, to show that this was in fact a nuclear detonation, North Koreans conducted second and third tests, respectable in 2009 and 2013. The maximum power of the blast of the aforementioned tests can be estimated to be up to 40 kilotons. However, a lot of sources claim that yield did not surpass 10-15 kilotons. Noteworthy is also the fact that in 2016, North Korea announced that they have conducted their first hydrogen-bomb test.
USA
The first country to develop and to military use nuclear warheads in the world. Everything started from the Manhattan project, a research that had one particular goal in focus – to develop and produce the first nuclear weapon. Americans were the first to wield such powerful weapon. Everything started in 1941, which is date of the beginning of Manhattan project. Since the end of the Second World War, United States became the leading country when it comes to possessing nuclear warheads and it lasted approximately to 1980s. We should also bear in mind that United States are also the only nation that ever used nuclear weapon in military conflict.
In 1960, the amount of warheads stored by Americans exceeded 30,000. However, it is worth to note that throughout the entire period of the so-called Cold War, USA managed to build approximately 70,000 nuclear warheads, what is more than all other countries with access to nuclear weapons combined. From the first test that happened in 1945 to this day, the USA conducted 1054 tests of atomic bombs. Still, as a result of introduced restrictions on the amount of warheads one state can possess, the current number has dropped to 6500 warheads. Noteworthy is also the fact that out of this number, United States deployed only 1600.
Military service
North Korea
18 is presumed to be the legal minimum age for compulsory military service; 16-17 is the presumed legal minimum age for voluntary service.
USA
18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines); DoD is eliminating prohibitions restricting women from assignments in units smaller than brigades or near combat units.