Korean People's Navy
The Korean People's Army Naval Force (KPN; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 海軍) is the naval warfare service branch of the Korean People's Army; it is the de facto navy of North Korea. The Korean People's Army, the armed forces of North Korea, is made up of the Korean People's Army Ground Force, the Korean People's Air Force, and the Korean People's Navy.
The Korean People's Navy was established on June 5, 1946. The navy strength during the 1990s was about 40,000 to 60,000; current strength (2008) is at about 46,000. There are some 708 vessels including 3 frigates and 70 submarines: approximately 20 Romeo class submarines (1,800 tons), 40 Sang-O class submarines (300 tons) and 10 midget submarines including the Yono class submarine (130 tons).
The North Korean navy is considered a green-water navy and operates mainly within the 50 kilometer exclusion zone. The fleet consists of east and west coast squadrons, which cannot support each other in the event of war with South Korea. The limited range of most of the vessels means that even in peacetime it is virtually impossible for a ship on one coast to visit the other coast.
Read more about Korean People's Navy: Organization, Inventory, Propaganda, Weapons
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