page_title: Korean People's Army
section_title: Nuclear capabilities
hierarchical_section_title: Korean People's Army / Military equipment / Chemical weapons / Nuclear capabilities
caption_attribution_description: English: North Korea's ballistic missile - North Korea Victory Day-2013
context_page_description: The Korean People's Army is the de facto military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea. Under the Songun policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Kim Jong-un serves as Supreme Commander and the chairman of the Central Military Commission. The KPA consists of five branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air and Anti-Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force.
  The KPA considers its primary adversaries to be the South Korean military and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. As of 2016, with 5,889,000 paramilitary personnel, it is the largest paramilitary organisation in the world. This number serves as 25% of the North Korean population.
context_section_description: North Korea has tested a series of different missiles, including short-, medium-, intermediate-, and intercontinental- range, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Estimates of the country's nuclear stockpile vary: some experts believe Pyongyang has between fifteen and twenty nuclear weapons, while U.S. intelligence believes the number to be between thirty and sixty bombs. The regime conducted two tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead in July 2017. The Pentagon confirmed North Korea's ICBM tests, and analysts estimate that the new missile has a potential range of 10,400 kilometres (6,500 mi) and, if fired on a flatter trajectory, could be capable of reaching mainland U.S. territory.
caption: North Korean ballistic missiles
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