North Korea's defence industry predates the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, but has emerged as a major supplier to the

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n armed forces beginning in the 1970s, but increasingly so after the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and to supplement those purchased from China. Most equipment produced are copies of

Soviet 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 nation ...

and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

built military hardware.

Military factories

Tanks, arms, and missiles

* First Machine Industry Bureau - supplier of machine guns, likely Type 62 Light Machine Gun and Type 73 Light Machine GunBermudez Jr., p. 50. * Ryu Kyong-su Tank Factory - Sinhung South Hamgyong Province * Second Machine Industry Bureau - Sŏngch'ŏn-kun, South Pyongan Province - builds

Chonma-ho The Ch'ŏnma-ho or spelled as Chonma-ho (Chosŏn'gŭl: 천마호; Hanja: 天馬號 meaning 'Pegasus') is one of North Korea's secretive indigenous main battle tank designs. The tank is also known by the name of 천리마 전차 (千里馬 or ...

and

Pokpung-ho The P'okp'ung-ho, officially the Chonma-215 and Chonma-216 are North Korean main battle tanks (MBT) developed in the 1990s. The tank may incorporate technology found in the T-62, T-72, and Ch'onma-ho MBTs.Yoon Min Hyeok.북한군 폭풍호전차� ...

MBT; likely Chuch'e-Po and Koksan artillery gun * Third Machine Industry Bureau: Multi-stage rockets * Fourth Machine Industry Bureau: Guided missiles * Fifth Machine Industry Bureau: Nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons * Tokhyon Munitions Plant

Naval

* Bong Dao Bo Shipyards,

Sinpo SINPO, an acronym for Signal, Interference, Noise, Propagation, and Overall, is a Signal Reporting Code used to describe the quality of broadcast and radiotelegraph transmissions. SINPFEMO, an acronym for Signal, Interference, Noise, Propagation ...

- located on the mainland across from Mayang-do Naval base - builder of the Sang-O and Gorae class Submarines. * Mayang-do Naval Shipyards, in northeast coast - maintenance facility with

graving dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

; has built some ships for the navy (12 Romeo class submarines) * Najin Shipyards - Kowan-Class submarine rescue ship, Soho class frigates and Najin class frigates * Nampho Shipyards - located on west coast and builds small- and medium-size submarines (Sang-O and Yugo?) * Wonsan Shipyards - located on east coast and builds small- and medium-size submarines (Sang-O and Yugo?) * Yukdaeso-ri Shipyards - located on west coast and has built midget submarines ( Yugo-class submarines or

Yono-class submarine The Yono-class submarine (occasionally confused with Yugo-class) is a class of North Korean miniature submarines, produced for domestic use as well as for export. Also referred to as the Yeono class, these submarines displace 130 tons, signifi ...

s) since the 1960s * Sixth Machine Industry Bureau: Battleships and submarines

Aircraft

There are no known indigenous aircraft built in North Korea, factories supply components or parts for current aircraft flown such as for

Tumansky RD-9 The Tumansky RD-9 (initially designated Mikulin AM-5) was an early Soviet turbojet engine, not based on pre-existing German or British designs. The AM-5, developed by scaling down the AM-3, was available in 1952 and completed testing in 1953; ...

turbojet engine used by

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

and

Shenyang J-6 The Shenyang J-6 ( Chinese: 歼-6; designated F-6 for export versions; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is the Chinese-built version of the Soviet MiG-19 'Farmer' fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. Design and ...

. Another is additional sub systems for aircraft such as

Tactical air navigation system A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system used by military aircraft. It provides the user with bearing and distance (slant-range or hypotenuse) to a ground or ship-borne station. It is a mor ...

that for example were known to be exported to Syria. * Ch’onjin - small factory used to build spare parts and rebuild aircraft for the Air Force. *

Taechon T'aechŏn County or Thaechŏn County (''in North Korean romanization'') is a ''kun'', or county, in central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. It borders Taegwan and Tongch'ang to the north, Unsan and Nyŏngbyŏn to the east, Pakch'ŏn ...

- used to build spare parts and rebuild aircraft for the Air Force. * Panghyon - North Korea's primary aircraft assembly, repair and research facility established in the mid-1980s. * Seventh Machine Industry Bureau: Production and purchase of war planes

Space

National Aerospace Development Administration National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA; ) is the official space agency of North Korea, succeeding the Korean Committee of Space Technology (KCST). It was founded on April 1, 2013. The current basis for the activities of NADA is the ...

Military factories

Tanks, arms, and missiles

Naval

Aircraft

Space

References

Bibliography

External links