These developments come amid the United States’ display of its power after Pyongyang’s missiles, and the extension of exercises with Seoul, during which it summoned the B-1B strategic nuclear bomber to participate in the exercises, which raises the heat of the atmosphere and the pace of the challenge that foretells danger.
Tension between the two Koreas has escalated dramatically over the past few days, at a time when observers fear that a series of successive tests is a prelude to a major test, such as a nuclear weapon detonation or a small attack on South Korea.
What are the military capabilities of the two countries in the event of the outbreak of such a conflict?
North Korea’s military capabilities:
- It has an army of more than 1 million and 800,000 soldiers, in addition to 4.5 million reserves, according to the classification of the “Global Fire” military website.
- Annual military expenditures of up to 3.5 billion dollars.
- The fourth largest army in the world in terms of the number of soldiers and the 30th in the world in military strength.
- The manpower available for work exceeds 13 million people.
- The total population exceeds 25,381 million.
- Fit for military service 10.123 million people.
- The Air Fleet has 949 warplanes, a variety of fighters, aircraft, and special operations.
- The number of tanks is up to 6,045, 10,000 armored vehicles, 800 self-propelled artillery, and 2,110 rocket launchers.
- It has in the naval fleet about 994 marine pieces.
- It does not own aircraft carriers or destroyers.
South Korea’s capabilities:
- Military budget 44 billion dollars.
- Its army ranks sixth in the world, according to the “Global Fire” website.
- It has a workforce of 25.709 million people.
- Its population exceeds 51 million people.
- Fit for military service 21.081 million people.
- The number of active forces is 580,000, out of a total of 3 million and 600,000 soldiers, and it has a reserve force of 1 million 300 thousand soldiers.
- It owns 1649 warplanes, a variety of fighters and attack aircraft dedicated to attack and military transport.
- 2,614 tanks, 14,000 armored vehicles, 3,040 self-propelled artillery and 575 rocket launchers.
- It has 12 destroyers and two aircraft carriers, 18 frigates, 12 cruisers, 83 submarines, and 416 naval patrols.
Horror arsenal:
According to the data of the “Global Fire Bow” website, the previous comparisons are for the conventional weapons, manpower and military strength of the two Koreas, and do not include what Pyongyang possesses of an arsenal of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads because it is surrounded by secrecy.
According to military reports, North Korea possesses significant nuclear capabilities, and US and South Korean intelligence services believe that Pyongyang has:
- Between 10 and 16 nuclear weapons.
- More than a thousand ballistic missiles of different ranges.
- The massive stockpile of chemical weapons is the third in the world.
- In 2016, it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb as part of its radioactive bombs.
- It has ballistic missiles like the Hwasong-10.
- It seeks to develop its intercontinental missiles from 5,500 to a distance of 10 thousand kilometers.
- It has an abundance of “lithium-6”, which is used to make hydrogen bomb fuel.
- Developed Scud missiles.
- It has manufactured “Nodong”, “Taepo Dong-1”, “Taepo-Dong-2” and “Tochka-02” missiles, which are intercontinental ballistic missiles, some of which have a range of 4,000 km.
- In October 2020, it unveiled the Hwasong-17, which was presented as the most powerful ICBM.
What are the experts’ assessments of Pyongyang’s experiences?
Military expert Jalal al-Taweel says that North Korea has already become a nuclear power since the 1990s, and uses nuclear weapons as a deterrent, to keep any party trying to interfere on the Korean peninsula.
He added to “Sky News Arabia”, that the northern neighbor is seeking to develop its nuclear weapons to reach the American island of Guam in the western Pacific, thousands of kilometers away, and that some of its movements come at the behest of China, so that Washington and its allies remain preoccupied with the events of Northwest Asia.
As for the French expert, Antoine Bondaz, he says that North Korea’s tests this year of about 32 missiles are similar to all that it tested during the entire period of the rule of its former leader Kim Jong Il, between 1994 and 2011.
He explained that the regime of Korean leader Kim Jong-un is developing its ballistic and nuclear capabilities after South Korea’s dominance of the region in terms of armaments and military aviation, noting that it is still revealing its weapons and accuracy, including missiles that succeeded in penetrating the defense of its southern neighbor.
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