North Korea War? What To Know About Kim Jong Un’s Army Size, Military Weapons Amid Threats To US

On Monday, North Korea threatened to “pour further misery” on the United States after President Donald Trump announced that Washington would be making a “state of the art” missile defense system to counter attacks from Pyongyang.

“The U.S. will face a position more miserable than that in the Pueblo case if it forgets that lesson and frantically pursues new ways to provoke war against the north,” North Korea’s Central TV station said, referring to Pyongyang’s capture of an American intelligence ship, the USS Pueblo, during the Cold War.

Monday’s threat was latest among several such warnings issued by the reclusive state. Earlier this month, the country said that it is capable of test-launching an inter-continental ballistic missile — one that could reach the U.S. mainland — at any time and from any location. Last year, Pyongyang conducted several missile launches and nuclear tests — including a hydrogen bomb test — much to the anger of the U.S. and South Korea.

With numerous such threats and reports about the country bolstering its nuclear capabilities, the question is this — how strong is the Korean People’s Army?

A 2012 report by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to the U.S. Congress puts the total figure of North Korea’s troops at 1.12 million. However, according to a South Korean defense white paper released this month, Pyongyang increased the number of troops to 1.28 million in 2016 from 1.2 million in 2014. During the same period, its air force declined from 120,000 to 110,000 soldiers while the navy remained unchanged at 60,000 troops.

For comparison, in 2016, the total number of U.S. active military personnel — including the Navy, the Army and the Air Force — stood at just over 1.3 million.

North Korea’s reserve forces add up to more than 5 million, making it the fourth largest military force in the world, according to GlobalSecurity.org.

The U.S. defense secretary report said in 2012 that the nation has 4,100 tanks, 2,100 armored vehicles, 8,500 field artillery and 5, 100 multiple rocket launches in its ground forces. The country’s air force is comprised of 730 combat aircraft, 300 helicopters and 290 transport aircraft. And its naval forces have 80 submarines, 420 patrol combatants, 260 amphibious landing craft, 30 mine warfare vessels and 30 support or auxiliary vessels.

The South Korean defense white paper also cautioned that the North’s plutonium stash had increased significantly in 2016, compared to 88 pounds it had in 2014. It also noted that Pyongyang has a “considerable” ability to produce weapons using highly-enriched uranium. Last August, North Korea confirmed speculations that it had restarted plutonium production in the country, and reopened its Yongbyon nuclear facility. The Yongbyon reactor was closed down in July 2007.