Korean People's Army

"Ah! Looks like I've got my first enemy I'm engaging in combat now. The Korean People's Army. I hate these crazy nutcased Korean People's Army bastards. They seem to frighten me a lot, even for my village and my country as well."

--Su Ji-Hoon, First Blood

The Korean People's Army (KPA; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선인민군; MR: Chosŏn Inmin'gun) is an institution of the Workers' Party of Korea, and constitutes the de facto military force of North Korea. Under the Songun policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Kim Jong-un is the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The KPA consists of five branches: Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force. The Worker-Peasant Red Guards also come under control of the KPA.

The KPA faces its primary adversaries, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. As of 2016, with 5,889,000 paramilitary personnel, it is the largest paramilitary organization on Earth. This number serves as 25% of the North Korean population.