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

. 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 state ...

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 ...

under its Military Leadership Department. It is thus responsible to the Supreme Leader in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Young Men of the Student Guard (10104363643)

Young Men of the Student Guard (10104363643)

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/ 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 ...

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 a ...

and older Ural D-62 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

References

{{Portal bar, North Korea, War Military wings of communist parties Law enforcement in North Korea Military of North Korea

Equipment

See also

References