KCTV Broadcast of DPRK Military Exercises 2011

This is purported to be recent video of a DPRK combined arms exercise broadcast by the official North Korean state media outlet KCTV.

There are a couple of interesting facets to this video worth noting for anyone with an interest on the subject.

First there is a lot of new footage showing a massive amount of antiquated soviet equipment blowing the **** out of the side of a mountain.

Kim Jong Il and heir apparent Kim Jong-un are both well featured with enough footage to get a sense that Kim Jong-un is not nearly as at ease with the military as his father.

Secondly, for anyone familiar with military hardware and doctrine, North Korea is practicing to fight their great grandfathers war with their grandfathers equipment.



Remember, this is from a state TV broadcast. It is a given that the entirety of the sixteen minute video is a product of heavy editing and censorship to portray the KPA (Korean People's Army) in the most capable terms possible.

Contrast the previous with following ROKA ( Republic of Korea Army) combined arms exercise "greatest hits"






My personal thoughts are....

It is obvious in the hardware showcased is that the years of political and economic isolation have taken an enormous toll on the ability of the KPA to field a competitive, modern force across the board.

Early Fulcrum A cameo included, fielding 2nd generation Chinese J-5 and J-6 ( Mig 17 and 19 clones) as first line air support, IL-28 clones as level bombers and enough Katyusha multiple rocket launchers etc to have successfully defended the Kursk salient in July if of 1943 on the eastern front.

It is an impressive of firepower but bizarre in its complete antiquity

Of particular interest is the heavy reliance on massive artillery (guns and unguided rockets, much of it fixed) and minimal tactical air integration.

With the amount of effort the ROKA has invested in counter battery technology, I cant believe that the life expectancy of a KPA artillery piece to be more than a few rounds against an alert ROKA counter battery force

I couldn't help but be reminded of the Soviet style of rigid and inflexible command geared to fight an opponent head on in a slugging match.

Curious, since every relevant east/west clash I can think of since the Israeli victories in the Sinai and the Golan during Yom Kippur 1973, Soviet doctrine had been consistently defeated by the modern western doctrine of combined arms fluid maneuver (pioneered by Generaloberst Heinz Guderian).

My guess is the point behind the demonstration was a reminder to everyone watching that the DPRK has the ability to make good on its threat to "turn Seoul into a sea of fire" if hostilities were to breakout.

The DPRK knows their military would cease to exist within 24 hours of unrestricted hostilities with the ROK . As long as they can continue to threaten Seoul, they remain a viable government.

What a terrible way to validate the legitimacy of a regime to the world, the scary part is it sounds as desperate as it does villainous.

It will be interesting to see what happens after Kim Jong Il, I highly doubt the Kim dynasty will survive although whether they pass into history with a bang or a whimper seems to be anybody's guess?

What about North Korea becoming a Global SuperPower just like the game homefront

en.wikipedia.org...(video_game)

north korea isn't open desert, where the united states excels in it's air power. the rugged mountains and forests would require ground troops.

not to mention urban fighting in pyongyang.

and america still hasn't won afghanistan or iraq. unless you call the capture of the green zone in iraq and remote outposts in afghanistan victories.

plus any war with n. korea will involve the chinese. that's why america and south korea tolerate artillery bombardments and sinking of battleships.

sadly ww3 isn't if but when.

the war is won , all we have to do is show il what footage we have compared to there footage , they would see they N Korea could not win

holy smokes they blew that mountain to smithereenes

Kim Jong Un looks like he has Down's Syndrome.

I gotta believe that as soon as real hostilities start, your estimation of them lasting 24 hours is optomistic at best. How far away are those artillary batteries from the closest air base? That is how long the war will last. I'll bet his nuke(s) either can not be launched, or are so poorly designed that they will blow up on the launch pad.

He may have a huge army, but his air space would be owned so fast that his troops would be nothing more than target practice.

Why can't we all just get along?

reply to post by DragonTattooz


sadly from how i look at the situation it seems north Korea has invested so heavily in artillery is that there plan calls for the distruction of the south Korean capital (causing massive civilian casualties )and that at least from what ive learned artillery shells are a bit harder to stop with interceptors then misses. but i do think if war kicks off in the region it will be over quickly for good or bad