The Type 58 () is an

assault rifle An assault rifle is a select fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge, intermediate-rifle cartridge and a Magazine (firearms), detachable magazine.C. Taylor, ''The Fighting Rifle: A Complete Study of the Rifle in Combat'', F.A. Moyer '' ...

made 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

derived from the Soviet

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

Mikhail Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (10November 191923December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, Military engineering, military engineer, writer, and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assau ...

. This was the first weapon made in North Korea alongside the

PPSh-41 The PPSh-41 () is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. The PPSh-41 saw ...

, made under license as the Type 49. It was made in Factory 61 and 65 in

Chongjin Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's List of cities in North Korea, third-largest city. Sometimes called the City of Iron, it is located in the northeast of the country. History ...

History

After the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

(1950–1953), North Korea was allied with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and continued to receive military support from them throughout the Cold War. President

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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

ordered the fabrication of the Type 58. The assault rifle was first produced in 1958. These were made initially with Soviet components until the North Koreans were able to make the parts on their own. Before production of the Type 58 ceased, it's reported that around 800,000 were made. North Korea turned production towards the Type 68 in 1968 since it was too time-consuming to make the Type 58. The Type 58 was exported to Cuba and Vietnam in the 1960s before it showed up in parts of Africa, the Middle East and South America. The Type 68 was reported to be exported to the

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (, abbreviated FMLN) is a Salvadoran political party and former guerrilla rebel group. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist guerrilla organizations; ...

covertly in the 1980s.

Design

Type 58

While the Type 58 is based on the AK-47 with the milled receiver, the difference between the two assault rifles is that the former has identifying marks such as the five-point star in a circle and Type 58 in hangul. The Type 58 has a firing rate at 600-650 RPM. The Type 58's quality of finish bluing depends, which usually ranges from average to poor. Initial production models were not made with

bayonet lug A bayonet lug is a standard feature on most military and on some civilian long guns. It is intended for attaching a bayonet, which is typically a short-bladed multipurpose knife bayonet. The bayonet lug is the metal mount that either locks the b ...

s. Later models were produced with said bayonet lugs.

Type 68

The Type 68 was made with features from the Type 58 with features such as the solid catalpa wood stock, wood pistol grip, handguards and smooth sheet-steel top covers. It has a swivel retaining bracket spot-welded on the left side of the receiver. The pistol grip stud and lower stock tang are riveted in place. The milled gas block is flat on both sides and, like the Type 58, has a sling swivel that extends outward from the left side. The folding stock variant of the Type 68 has the Soviet underfolding design with stamped steel struts and buttplate. The rear sights are graduated to a distance of 800 meters. The trigger group is not based on the Soviet AKM. Instead, the trigger is a double-hook design based on milled receiver-based AKs. The rifle has a barrel length of 415 mm with a velocity of 715 m/s. Its practical rate of fire is at 40-100 RPM. While it has a sight range of 800 meters, its effective range is at 300 to 400 meters. While Type 68s used

hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

markings in the fire selectors, exported versions uses non-hangul markings with 1 for semi-auto and an

infinity symbol The infinity symbol () is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a ''lemniscate'', after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminolo ...

for automatic fire. The markings consist of a five-point star in a circle and Type 68 in hangul.

Variants

Type 58-1

A variant of the Type 58 with a folding stock.

Type 68

The Type 68 also known as Type 68 NK, is a North Korean version of the AKM, it was adopted in 1968 to replace the Type 58. It has no

rate reducer Rate or rates may refer to: Finance * Rate (company), an American residential mortgage company formerly known as Guaranteed Rate * Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government * Exchange rate, rate ...

. It has its own

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

, which is based on the AK-47 bayonet, but it has a different pommel mount for it. These bayonets were also issued in Cuba, which have green scabbards instead of tan scabbards, which is used in the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

Type 68-1

The Type 68-1 features an underfolding stock like the AKMS with holes in it to help reduce overall weight.

Users

*: Known to have the Type 58 in the 1960s. It also received the Type 68. Provided free of charge due to allegations that the Soviet Union did not want to honor Cuban orders for AK-47s. * : North Korea provided assistance to set up Type 68 production lines in the 1980s. *

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

: Recovered by US troops after

Operation Urgent Fury The United States and a coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation with ...

. * : Sandinista Popular Army/Ejército Popular Sandinista. In addition to receiving Type 58s and Type 68s, they also received Type 68 magazine pouches and slings. * * : Type 68 used by Peruvian National Police, most refurbished by Desarrollos Industriales Casanave. Around 200 were modernized by DC as of 2012. * : Imported Type 58 and Type 68 rifles or components prior to the Syrian Civil War. Produced under license in Syria.A Syrian-produced North Korean Type 68 rifle on sale in Yemen. We can notice the Syrian Defense Laboratories logo stamped on it, which we have seen in the past across Syria. (h/t @FighterXwar_ar).
/ref> * : Reported to be used by the former North Vietnamese military in the 1960s.

Non-State Actors

: Also received Type 68 slings and ammunition pouches, probably from Nicaragua. * : At least 18 Type 68 rifles were found in a weapons stash in northeast Syria in 2022.

Gallery

File:North Korean Type 58 and Type 68.jpg, Type 58 on top Type 68 on bottom 0945 - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang - Parade zum 75. JT der Arbeiterpartei (22354122704).jpg, Type 68 in DPRK service 0961 - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang - Parade zum 75. JT der Arbeiterpartei (22950726176).jpg, Type 68 in DPRK service 0962 - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang - Parade zum 75. JT der Arbeiterpartei (Cropped).png, Type 68 in DPRK service 0963 - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang - Parade zum 75. JT der Arbeiterpartei (22353978314).jpg, Type 68 in DPRK service

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{AK47 derivatives Rifles of the Cold War Infantry weapons of the Cold War 7.62×39mm assault rifles Kalashnikov derivatives Assault rifles of North Korea Military equipment introduced in the 1950s Korea–Soviet Union relations Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1958