Military power of North Korea & United Kingdom
North Korea vs United Kingdom
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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 militaryUnited Kingdom is a country located in Western Europe with an area of 242,495 km2 (land boundries: 499 km and costline 12,429 km). The capital of United Kingdom is London. The number of inhabitants is 67,886,004.
the UK is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The UK is also a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements reached in 1971 embracing also Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore. The inventory of the British military is comprised of a mix of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems. The Uunited States is the leading supplier of armaments. United Kingdom defense industry is capable of producing a wide variety of weapons systems and is one of the world's top weapons suppliers.
More about United Kingdom militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 KP |  GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 1.6 billion $ | 58.2 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 4.9% | 2.2% |
Manpower
| KP | GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 1,280,000 | 148,220 |
| Reserve personnel: | 600,000 | 37,000 |
| Available for military: | 6,515,279 | 14,856,917 |
Land Forces
| KP | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 6,000 | 286 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 4,000 | 4,644 | |
| Total artillery: | 13,000 | 259 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 4,500 | 89 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 4,000 | 44 |
Air Forces
| KP | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 960 | 996 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 349 | 157 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 35 | 21 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 188 | 0 | |
| Helicopters: | 202 | 359 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 0 | 9 |
Navy
| KP | GB | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 967 | 74 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 0 | 1 | |
| Destroyers: | 0 | 6 | |
| Frigates: | 2 | 12 | |
| Corvettes: | 8 | 0 | |
| Submarines: | 72 | 10 |
☢ 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.
United Kingdom
Third out of fifth nuclear-weapon states that are under the NPT, the treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The first successful test in the nuclear history of Great Britain occurred in October 1952, three years after Russia’s first successful attempt. “Hurricane”, which was the codename for the test assumed the use of 3 megaton bomb, which was dropped in Australia. The UK itself did not have many tests after that. Comparing to a thousand and hundreds of tests by Americans and Russians, the Brits made only 45 tests of nuclear arsenal.
We should remember about the fact that United Kingdom was in a strict cooperation with United States at the very beginning. It means that we cannot forget about the tremendous help the Americans received from the British government and men of science while developing their first nuclear bomb. Unfortunately, all the data that USA could not be sent back to the UK, since the cooperation has ended prematurely. This was one of the reasons why UK developed their first nuclear weapon so late. At this moment, they possess 215 warheads in total, out of which 120 is deployed and completely operational.
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.
United Kingdom
16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); no conscription; women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens.