Military power of North Korea & NATO
North Korea vs NATO
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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 militaryThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Alliance) is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949. NATO is a system of collective security: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by others countries. NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels. The following twelve states signed the treaty and became the founding members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States. The following states joined the treaty after 1949: Greece, Germany, Turkey and Spain. Members who joined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Before and during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, several NATO countries sent army to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank. Alliance had deployed 40,000 troops along its 2,500 kilometres long Eastern flank to deter possible Russian aggression. On 5 July the North Atlantic Alliance members signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland and formally approved the decisions of the NATO summit.
Finland joined the alliance on 4 April 2023.
If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 KP |  NATO | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 1.6 billion $ | 1157.71 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 4.9% | 0% |
Manpower
| KP | NATO | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 1,280,000 | 3,142,889 |
| Reserve personnel: | 600,000 | 2,748,132 |
| Available for military: | 6,515,279 | 206,903,543 |
Land Forces
| KP | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 6,000 | 14,125 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 4,000 | 86,709 | |
| Total artillery: | 13,000 | 12,997 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 4,500 | 4,359 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 4,000 | 2,485 |
Air Forces
| KP | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 960 | 21,104 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 349 | 1,104 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 35 | 3,586 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 188 | 728 | |
| Helicopters: | 202 | 8,293 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 0 | 556 |
Navy
| KP | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 967 | 1,916 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 0 | 28 | |
| Destroyers: | 0 | 119 | |
| Frigates: | 2 | 113 | |
| Corvettes: | 8 | 54 | |
| Submarines: | 72 | 144 |
☢ 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.
NATO
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.
NATO
Data not available