The Worker-Peasant Red Guards (WPRG; ), also translated as Workers and Peasants' Red Militia (WPRM), is a

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

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

as the largest civil defense force in

Name

The name ‘Worker-Peasant Red Guards’ first appeared at the military parade commemorating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Party on October 10, 2010, and thereafter North Korea began calling it the ‘Worker-Peasant Red Guards’.

Organisation

The

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

is organized on a provincial/ city/town/

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

level, and structured on a brigade, battalion, company, and platoon basis. Its strength is estimated at 5 million personnel. It is not only under State Affairs Commission (until 2016

National Defence 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 countr ...

) and

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

control, but is also attached to the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

under its Military Leadership Department. It is thus responsible to the

Supreme Leader A supreme leader or supreme ruler typically refers to powerful figures with an unchallenged authority, such as autocrats, dictators to spiritual and revolutionary leaders. Historic examples are Adolf Hitler () of Nazi Germany, Francisco ...

in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

History

The organization was established In order to make up for the shortage of troops as the Chinese troops that participated in the Korean War withdrew in April 1958. North Korea disbanded the Self-Defense Forces, previously under the command of the Ministry of Social Security, and on 14 January, 1959. The organization was formally established with workers, farmers, intellectuals, and students joining it, and had a force of 500,000 people. At first, they were required to receive military training while working for a living. But in 1962, in accordance with the policy of arming the entire population, the organization was expanded to include men aged 18 to 45 and single women aged 18 to 35. In 1971, the applicable age for the Workers' and Peasants' Red Guards was extended to 50 years old, and all men and single women aged 17 to 60 who were not transferred to the prison guards were targeted for formation, and it continues to this day. They were also widely mobilized to help with reconstruction projects following the mass destruction that occurred during 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 ...

Equipment

The militia uses mostly small arms phased out from frontline service, while access to advanced equipment is limited.

Small arms

Besides small arms, the Worker-Peasant Red Guards also maintains heavier weapons such as mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and some obsolete vehicles such as

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

tanks and

SU-100 The SU-100 ( Russian: самоходная установка-100, СУ-100 romanized: '' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka-''100) is a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extens ...

tank destroyers. They use older Ural D-62 motorcycles, although some units are unarmed indicating status as logistics and medical units.Bermudez (2001), pg 4–5. During a parade in September 2023 elements of the force paraded in what appeared to be truck mounted 122mm rockets tubes disguised as civilian vehicles.

Gallery

File:North Korea - Samjiyon (5015270137).jpg, Worker-Peasant Red Guards at the Samjiyon Grand Monument (삼지연대기념비). File:Young Men of the Student Guard (10104363643).jpg, Worker-Peasant Red Guards in Pyongyang during the 2013 Day of the Foundation of the Republic. File:Flag of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards.svg, Flag used by the Worker-Peasant Red Guards from 1992 to 2023.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Portal bar, North Korea Military wings of communist parties Law enforcement in North Korea Korean People's Army Workers' Party of Korea