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The Worker-Peasant Red Guards (WPRG; ), also translated as Workers and Peasants' Red Militia (WPRM), is a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
force in
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. It is the largest civil defense force in North Korea. It was established on 14 January 1959 by
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
and is not only under
State Affairs Commission
The State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAC) is defined by the 2016 constitution as "the supreme policy-oriented leadership body of State power."
The current president of the SAC, which is defined by the same ...
(until 2016
National Defense Commission
The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) () was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the cou ...
) and
Ministry of Defense
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
control, but is also attached to the
Workers' Party of Korea
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...
under its Military Leadership Department. It is thus responsible to the
Supreme Leader in his capacity as
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
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The
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
is organized on a
provincial
Provincial may refer to:
Government & Administration
* Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country
* Provincial city (disambiguation)
* Provincial minister (disambiguation)
* Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
/
City and town/
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
level, and structured on a brigade, battalion, company, and platoon basis. The militia maintains infantry small arms, with some mortars, field guns and anti-aircraft guns and even modernized older equipment such as multiple rocket launchers like the
BM-13
The Katyusha ( rus, Катю́ша, p=kɐˈtʲuʂə, a=Ru-Катюша.ogg) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area ...
and older
Ural D-62
IMZ-Ural (russian: Ирбитский мотоциклетный завод, Irbitskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod, Irbit Motorcycle Factory) is a Russian maker of heavy sidecar motorcycles.
In 1940, the Soviet Union acquired the design and production t ...
motorcycles, although some units are unarmed indicating status as logistics and medical units.
[Bermudez (2001), pg 4–5.] Its strength is estimated at 5 million personnel.
Equipment
See also
*
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...
*
Other nations:
*
Red Guards (Russia)
, war=The Russian Revolution of 1917 and Russian Civil War
, image=
, caption= Red flags were used by guards in several modifications and variations
, active=1917–1918(became core units of the Red Army)
, ideology=Communism
, position= Far-lef ...
(
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
)
*
China Militia (China)
*
Combat Groups of the Working Class
The Combat Groups of the Working Class (german: Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse, KdA) was a paramilitary organization in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1953 to 1989.
The KdA served as the ''de facto'' militia of the ruling Socialist Un ...
(
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
)
*
Workers' Militia
The Workers' Militia () was a paramilitary organization in the Hungarian People's Republic from 1957 to 1989.
History Pre-1956
Similar worker-guard organizations existed before 1957 in various socialist countries, partly to the circumvent ...
(
Hungarian People's Republic
The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949
to 23 October 1989.
It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet Uni ...
)
*
Volunteer Reserve of the Citizens' Militia (
People's Republic of Poland
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
)
*
People's Militias (Czechoslovakia)
People's Militias (in Slovak ''Ľudové milície'', in Czech ''Lidové milice''), also called The Armed Fist of the Working Class (in Slovak ''Ozbrojená päsť robotníckej triedy'', in Czech ''Ozbrojená pěst dělnické třídy'') was a mil ...
*
Patriotic Guards (Romania)
The Patriotic Guards ( ro, Gărzile Patriotice) were Romanian paramilitary formations formed during the Communist era, designed to provide additional defence in case of a foreign attack.
History
The Patriotic Guards were formed in 1968, aft ...
*
Territorial Defence Territorial Defense or Territorial Defense Forces may refer to:
Active
* Territorial Troops Militia, a Cuban paramilitary militia under the command of the MINFAR
* Territorial Forces (Finland)
* Territorial Troops (Kazakhstan)
* Territorial Def ...
(
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
)
*
Colectivo (Venezuela)
Colectivos (, "collectives") are Far-left politics, far-left Venezuela, Venezuelan groups that support Nicolás Maduro, the Bolivarian government, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) political alliance and the ruling party, the United Socialist Party o ...
*
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution
Committees for the Defense of the Revolution ( es, Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, links=no), or CDR, are a network of neighborhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution," exist to h ...
(Cuba)
*
Republic of Korea Reserve Forces
The Republic of Korea Reserve Forces (ROKRF; ko, 대한민국 예비군; Hanja: 大韓民國 豫備軍, ''Daehanminguk Yebigun''), also known as the ROK Reserve Forces, is the 3,100,000-strong reserve force of South Korea.
There are two major b ...
(South Korea)
References
{{Portal bar, North Korea, War
Military wings of communist parties
Law enforcement in North Korea
Military of North Korea