North Korea's Advanced Weapons... Where Did They Copy From? [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

The scene of the successful underwater launch and rocket ignition of the Pukguksong-1 SLBM from a Sinpo-class submarine under the supervision of Chairman Kim Jong-un on May 9, 2015. Photo by Korean Central News Agency / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] North Korea marked the anniversary of the founding of its regular army, known as Army Day, on the 8th. On this day, North Korea showcased new weapons through a large-scale military parade demonstrating its military strength. However, some critics point out that many of North Korea's weapon developments are more about reverse-engineering imported equipment rather than original development. The countries from which these weapons are reverse-imported are mostly China or Russia.

One famous weapon system that North Korea reverse-engineered is the MiG-21 fighter jet. In 1969, North Korea even shot down a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft. At that time, the EC-121 was a propeller-driven plane equipped with the most advanced radar and electronic equipment. On April 15 of that year, the EC-121 took off from the Atsugi U.S. Navy Air Base in Japan, completed reconnaissance of Soviet and North Korean forces in Vladivostok, and was returning.

To evade the U.S. reconnaissance plane's detection, North Korea disassembled MiG-21 fighters, loaded them onto a night train, transported them to the Orang Airfield near the expected route of the EC-121, reassembled them, and prepared to shoot it down. After leaving Soviet airspace, the EC-121 spotted two North Korean planes but continued flying without evasive maneuvers and was shot down by a missile fired from a MiG-21, crashing into the East Sea. Subsequently, the U.S. immediately deployed 40 vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, to the East Sea, conducted a show of force off the coast of Wonsan, and considered retaliatory strikes using tactical nuclear weapons but did not carry them out.

There is also the Sinpo-class submarine. The Sinpo-class submarine was built last year by importing, dismantling, and reverse-engineering a Golf-class diesel submarine that Russia built in 1958 and operated until 1990. The Sinpo-class submarine is designed with a shorter length (67m), so the SLBM launch tube section extends from the front of the hull to the middle at the conning tower, and it is known to carry one SLBM.

Since 2014, North Korea has begun ground and sea tests to equip a new 2,000-ton class submarine with vertical launch tubes for SLBM firing. Through this process, they have succeeded in installing vertical launch tubes on submarines. This means they have reached a level more than 10 years ahead of our military in equipping submarines with vertical launch tubes. Our navy plans to commission six 3,000-ton class submarines equipped with vertical launch tubes between 2027 and 2030.

In 2016, it was revealed that the North Korean Navy began equipping patrol boats deployed near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea with American-made Gatling guns.

In 2016, it was revealed that the North Korean navy began equipping patrol boats deployed near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea with U.S.-made 'Gatling guns.' The military analyzed that this was part of replacing old machine guns to inflict significant casualties on our navy during close combat.

The Gatling guns mounted on some North Korean coastal combat ships are estimated to be 12.7mm caliber, developed by the U.S. company General Electric. These guns can fire about 2,000 rounds per minute. Their maximum range is 5 to 6 km, and within 2 km, they can cause serious damage to personnel or ship hulls. Produced since 1983, these guns are automated, and recently, upgraded versions with technology that allows firing without the opponent detecting it beforehand have been reported.

North Korea also operates aircraft identical to ours. This includes the H-500 helicopter. The North Korean military reportedly changed the surface color of the H-500 helicopter used for reconnaissance to the same color as our military's reconnaissance helicopter, the 500MD. Our military views this as a tactic to confuse friend and foe during wartime and is preparing countermeasures.

According to military officials, North Korea possesses about 80 H-500 helicopters. Some of these helicopters have been painted in colors similar to our military's defense color and deployed to the front lines. North Korea imported civilian H-500 helicopters from Germany in the early 1980s, converted them for military use, and has been operating them since. The civilian H-500 is a model similar to our military's 500MD. The H-500, first unveiled at a large-scale parade in July last year, is reportedly flown as little as possible considering parts supply to prevent early retirement.

If North Korea conducts a celebratory flight for an airshow, there is a high possibility that they will deploy the H-500 helicopter, which is being used for reconnaissance purposes.

North Korea's H-500 is difficult to visually identify even if it invades our territory for reconnaissance purposes. The H-500 differs from our 500MD mainly in having one fewer exhaust port and a pointed front fuselage.

Notably, North Korea is known to have equipped the H-500 with portable satellite navigation (GPS) signal jamming devices. In wartime, if North Korea's H-500 emits jamming signals while invading our territory, our 500MD helicopters encountered in the front lines would lose direction and be helpless. Like the KT-1 aircraft owned by the Air Force, the 500MD uses commercial GPS, which lacks sufficient resistance to GPS jamming.

North Korea currently possesses about ten types of GPS jamming devices, capable of jamming signals from distances over 100 km, according to our military. North Korea has increased the frequency of jamming signals annually. The jamming range, which was limited to the West Coast three years ago, has expanded to include Seoul, Gyeonggi, and eastern Gangwon regions.

In the 1980s, North Korea attempted to resell U.S.-made 500MD helicopters smuggled through a German trading company to Iran. According to diplomatic documents released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2016, North Korea dispatched a delegation to Iran in October 1985 to negotiate the sale of 500MD helicopters but failed to reach an agreement due to price disagreements. Previously, from 1983 for two years, North Korea illegally smuggled 87 500MD reconnaissance helicopters designed by Hughes and assembled by McDonnell Douglas through Germany's 'Delta Avia' company. At that time, our military operated many 500MDs as main helicopters, raising concerns that North Korea's use of the same model for airborne infiltration could cause significant confusion.

North Korea's missiles are also a representative example of reverse engineering. In the early 1980s, when the former Soviet Union refused to transfer technology, North Korea purchased Soviet-made Scud-B missiles from Egypt, disassembled the parts, and reverse-engineered them. The missile produced at that time was the Scud-B. Some claim that the former Soviet Union directly transferred Scud-B technology. Later, after the Soviet collapse in the early 1990s, North Korea recruited technicians and received technology transfers. Various missiles such as Nodong, Musudan, and Taepodong were developed this way.

Foreign intelligence agencies believe that North Korea referred to former Soviet design blueprints for most missiles it developed, including the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) successfully test-fired in 2016. However, experts have questioned how North Korean Workers' Party Chairman Kim Jong-un was able to acquire long-range missile technology so rapidly, successfully conducting two types of long-range missile test launches last year.

Missile technology experts Markus Schiller from Munich, Germany, and Nick Hansen, a former U.S. intelligence satellite imagery analyst, explained that the size and shape of North Korean missiles resemble the UR-100, a two-stage solid-fuel missile manufactured by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, and that North Korea's missile engines are the same as the RD-250 missile engine first produced by the former Soviet Union in 1965. Considering the similarities between North Korean and former Soviet missiles, these researchers emphasized that North Korea's missiles are not based on technology transferred from China or Iran, as some experts claim, but rather reuse former Soviet technology.

They particularly noted that while North Korean missiles closely resemble the former Soviet UR-100 missile, the North Korean Hwasong-15 is believed to be a copy of the R-37 missile, another missile developed during the Soviet era but never fully produced. In the 1960s, the former Soviet Union had two missile development departments compete to develop new missiles to counter the U.S.-developed 'Minuteman' missile, ultimately adopting the UR-100 and scrapping the R-37 missile, which was similar in size and shape.

Researcher Schiller stated, "Although there is no direct evidence, the Hwasong-15 appears to have been produced based on stolen or black-market R-37 missile technology or similar Soviet-era missiles. Otherwise, the early development of North Korea's new missile cannot be explained."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.