Rare photos show life inside North Korea’s top-secret military

• North Korea’s military, the fourth-largest in the world, remains shrouded in mystery.
• Both men and women are required to serve in the military in North Korea.
• Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of North Korea, has no formal military experience.

Little is known about life inside the “hermit kingdom” of North Korea.

Even less is known about the country’s military, the fourth-largest in the world behind China, India, and the United States, based on the number of active personnel.

It remains extremely difficult to get past the border, but photos can provide a glimpse into the insular, militarized country.

Rare photos of North Korea’s military reveal a snapshot of life as a soldier in North Korea.

North Korea and South Korea split after the Korean War, which began in 1950 when 75,000 soldiers from the North crossed the border and invaded the South.

The war ended in 1953 with an armistice dividing the country along the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union supporting the North and the US supporting the South.

The Korean Armistice Agreement also established a Demilitarized Zone on the border, which remains one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world.

The Soviet Union put Kim Il Sung in charge of North Korea, which became known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

His son, Kim Jong Il, took over after his death in 1994.

Kim Jong Un then took over as the ruler of the country in December 2011 when his father died of a heart attack.

Despite being in charge of the fourth-largest military in the world, Un has no formal military experience.

North Korea’s military is called the “Korean People’s Army,” or the KPA.

The North Korean military is composed of more than 1.3 million active soldiers, according to the CIA World Factbook.

There are another 7 million paramilitary, reserve, and bodyguard command personnel.

Most people serve in the military after completing high school.

Men serve for up to 13 years and women for up to seven, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Before 2015, women served purely on a voluntary basis.

In 2015, it became mandatory for all women to serve in the military.

Those who go to college serve for five years after completing their degree, a defector told NK News.

Kim Jong Un established a policy in 2015 allowing those who study science to serve for only three years.

While data from North Korea remains unreliable, its defense industry employs an estimated 2 million workers, 38 North reported in 2023.

Most motor vehicles are owned by military or government officials, Daily NK reported. Restrictions on car ownership mean it’s rare for private citizens to own them.

Soldiers in the military have reportedly faced malnutrition and hunger because of a lack of food availability and rigorous training, NK News reported.

KPA’s Air Force is its second-largest branch with around 110,000 members.

The US Department of Defense reports that North Korea’s Air Force has somewhere between 500 and 900 aircraft, though most are outdated vessels from the 1990s.

Per a 2021 US Defense Intelligence Agency report, the North Korean military has 260 amphibious landing craft in its naval force.

In 2023, North Korea held a launch ceremony for a reworked Cold War-era submarine with missile capabilities, though it’s unclear if the sub is operational.

The North Korean missile program began development in the late 1960s.

The full scope of North Korea’s ballistic missile capabilities is unclear, but the military is believed to be in possession of long-, medium-, and short-range missiles.

In 2021, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists estimated that North Korea could possess enough fissile material to produce 40 to 50 nuclear weapons.

Nuclear tests were conducted within the country in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2017.

In 2017, Un attended a celebration held in honor of the nuclear scientists and engineers who contributed to a hydrogen bomb test.

North Korea’s military also has a band that performs at official functions known as the Central Military Band of the Korean People’s Army.

Despite being one of the largest armies in the world, North Korea’s military remains shrouded in mystery.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in May 2016. It was updated in October 2025.