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Military power of North Korea & China and Russia

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North Korea vs China and Russia

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North Korea China and Russia

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 military

A hypothetical military alliance between China and Russia. The two countries share a land border and they signed the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in 2001. A twenty-year strategic treaty extended or another 5 years after its expiration in February 2022. China is the world's most populous country, with a population of more than 1.4 billion people, on the other hand Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering over 17,098,246 square kilometres.

Currently, China focuses on domestic weapon designs and manufacturing, while still importing certain military products from Russia, such as jet engines. In September 2018, Russia hosted the militaries of China and Mongolia as a part of the Vostok 2018 military exercise. Russia and China flew joint bomber patrols over the Pacific. China refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Following the implementation of international sanctions during the war, China provided economic relief to Russia.

If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

small flag KP
small flag CHRU

Military budget

+
2 billion $
494.4 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
5 %
0 %

Manpower

small flag KP
small flag CHRU

Active personnel

+
1,320,000
3,035,000

Reserve personnel

+
600,000
4,000,000

Available for military

+
6,515,279
420,586,837

Land Forces

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small flag CHRU
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Tanks

+
5,144
18,367
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
4,000
40,052
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Total artillery

+
13,000
25,156
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Self-propelled artillery

+
4,000
9,833
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Rocket artillery

+
4,000
7,331

Air Forces

small flag KP
small flag CHRU
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Total aircraft

+
965
9,643
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Fighter

+
349
1,177
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Multirole

+
35
1,880
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Attack

+
192
943
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Helicopters

+
205
2,888
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
0
260

Navy

small flag KP
small flag CHRU
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Total naval

+
723
1,415
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Aircraft carriers

+
0
7
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Destroyers

+
0
64
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Frigates

+
2
58
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Corvettes

+
9
152
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Submarines

+
98
138

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.

China and Russia

Data not available

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.

China and Russia

Data not available