Page 29 - 2018 Defense White Paper

with Russia through Kim Yong-nam, the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s
Chapter 1
Assembly, visiting Russia twice during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 Russia
World Cup. Pyongyang also agreed to a Russia–DPRK summit during the Russian foreign
minister’s visit in May 2018.

2. North Korea’s Military Strategy and Military Command
Structure

| Military Strategy | In 1962, in accordance with the principle of “self-reliance in defense” 18)

embedded in the Juche ideology, North Korea adopted four military guidelines and has since
continued to bolster its military strength.
While maintaining a military strategy centered on guerrilla warfare, hybrid warfare, and
blitzkrieg, North Korea is also exploring a variety of strategies and tactics. Since the succession

of power, North Korea has continued to attempt to gain the upper hand through military
actions in areas near the borders including the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the

Northern Limit Line (NLL). It has also selectively enhanced the performance of its conventional
weapons and built up asymmetrical capabilities such as nuclear weapons, WMD, missiles, long-
range artilleries, submarines, Special Operation Force, and cyber units. North Korea operates
a 6,800-strong unit of trained cyber-warfare specialists and appears to continue its efforts to

enhance cyber capabilities by fostering specialists and continuing R&D in latest technologies.
During contingency, North Korean forces are likely to resort to guerilla attacks that mainly
employ asymmetric capabilities to set favorable conditions and end the war as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, as Pyongyang has changed its military strategies in the past in line with the changes
in the strategic environment, there is a possibility of a strategic shift depending on the progress
of denuclearization negotiations in the process of denuclearization and establishment of a peace

regime on the Korean Peninsula.

18) Article 60 of North Korea’s Constitution provides, “The State shall implement the line of self-reliant defense, the
import of which is to arm the entire people, fortify the country, train the army into a cadre army and modernize
the army on the basis of equipping the army and the people politically and ideologically.”

Section 3 North Korean Situation and Military Threats 27