Reconnaissance Bureau
KPA SOF Restructuring
The Korean People’s Army (KPA) is restructuring its special operations forces (SOF) and adjusted some training oversight to the KPA General Staff Department (GSD) Operations Bureau. On or around 28 March (Saturday), Kim Jong […]
Has Kim Yong Chol Retired? (updated 19 November)
update Kim Yong Chol attended the graveside service held as part of Kim Yong Nam’s state funeral. At the event, he stood with WPK Central Committee department directors and deputy directors, none of whom have […]
Changes to KPA Corps Commanders (corrected and revised 3 November 2025)
revised and corrected to reflect no change in XI Corps Command (SOF) and deleted redundant photo to show KPA Strategic Force commander Kim Jong Gil The 10 October 2025 military parade marking the 80th anniversary […]
Images of KPA Overseas Mission Return Performance
As part of a series of events held to mark the first group of military personnel returning from Russia, a performance was held at the 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang on or around […]
State Security Boss Does Moscow
Col. Gen. Ri Chang Dae (Ri Ch’ang-tae) Minister of State Security (State Security Department [SSD] Director) visited Russia to attend the 13th annual meeting of High Ranking Security Officers (held 27-29 May) sponsored by the […]
RPC’s Advisorial Relationship
Ri Pyong Chol (Ri Pyo’ng-ch’o’l) has been identified by that august of titles “General Advisor.” During Kim Jong Un’s (KJU; Kim Cho’ng-u’n) 25-26 March inspection of the Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex under the Academy of […]
Guesstimating NK Troop Presence in Eastern Europe
According to the US Government, North Korea has about 12,000 personnel deployed to Russia. Using the few, scant accurate details about the Korean People’s Army (KPA) deployment we might attain a general sense of the […]
