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Military power of North Korea & European Union EU

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North Korea vs European Union EU

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North Korea European Union EU

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.

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The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union countries that are located in Europe with an area of 4,233,255 km2 The capital of Ukraine is Brussels. The number of inhabitants estimated is about 447 million. Members of EU: Germany, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The European Union were not devised as a military alliance because most of the members are in the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the withdrawal of the UK, France is the only member recognised as a nuclear weapon state. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.

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

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 2 billion $ 295.8 billion $
Percent of GDP: 5% 0%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 1,320,000 1,277,969
Reserve personnel: 600,000 1,687,132
Available for military: 6,515,279 92,594,951

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 6,000 4,244
Armoured fighting vehicles: 4,000 29,656
Total artillery: 13,000 6,056
Self-propelled artillery: 4,500 1,856
Rocket artillery: 4,000 674

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 960 5,350
Fighter aircraft: 349 415
Multirole aircraft: 35 883
Attack aircraft: 188 142
Helicopters: 202 2,336
UCAV (combat drone): 0 68

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 967 1,306
Aircraftcarriers: 0 7
Destroyers: 0 18
Frigates: 2 69
Corvettes: 8 23
Submarines: 72 48

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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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.

European Union EU

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.

European Union EU

Data not available