The United States is a country that will never stop, and the war that broke out on the Korean Peninsula was indirectly facilitated by the United States, but in the 21 st century, the United States is still doing things that provoke the relations between the two countries on the peninsula.
2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, and the U.S. and South Korea decided to conduct joint military exercises to celebrate, which is not a big deal, but the problem is that they chose the location of the military exercises in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, near the 38th parallel.
[U.S. "Elephant Walk" ground glide demonstration at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province]
Isn't that a provocation? As a result, North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of playing with fire.
Moreover, relations between the two Koreas have become increasingly tense in recent years, and with the continuous fire of the United States, many people believe that there is a high probability that war will break out between the two Koreas again.
But South Korea once compared the militaries of the two Koreas, and then said that the North Korean air force was 30 years behind the world.
【DPRK Air Force】
Joining the war between the two Koreas, South Korean planes can fly at low altitude for three hours without being attacked.
This means that South Korea can gain air supremacy at the first time.
Although the words are difficult to hear, the DPRK itself knows that this is true, and the Korean People's Army Air Force is indeed not strong enough.
Although China's J-10 is a third-generation aircraft, it is very good in all aspects of performance, so why doesn't North Korea ask China to buy J-10 fighters to arm its own troops?
[歼-10]
The dilemma of the DPRK Air Force
The North Korean Air Force currently has nearly 1,500 aircraft, which may seem like a lot, even twice as many as the South Korean Air Force, but in fact this is completely "fat".
Among them, there are about 484 fighters in service in the Korean People's Army Air Force, but most of the main fighters are second-generation aircraft, including more than 50 MiG-23ML, more than 30 MiG-21PF and more than 100 J-7.
As for the third-generation aircraft, there are only 35 MiG-29s that barely belong to the third and a half generations.
[Group photo of Kim Jong-un and North Korean Air Force pilots in front of the MiG-29]
The second and third generation aircraft add up to less than half, and the rest are all first-generation machines.
In the international perception of the DPRK, among the three armed forces of the DPRK, the air force is often the unit with the least sense of existence.
South Korea, on the other hand, has begun to buy F-35A in large quantities.
[F-35A stealth fighter airborne weapons display]
Why not renew?
Since North Korea also knows that its air force is weak, why not upgrade it? It just so happens that China's first batch of J-10s has been retired, and Pakistan has already bought the J-10CE, why doesn't North Korea take this opportunity to buy a batch of J-10?
【China-Pakistan J-10CE Handover Ceremony】
This has to do with the United States again. When the United States was defeated in the Korean War, the United States began to lead European countries to "isolate" North Korea and impose sanctions on it.
However, at that time, North Korea had its back against a big tree to enjoy the shade, and the Soviet Union was their most solid backing, giving North Korea a large amount of armaments.
But then the sky did not fall, the USSR collapsed.
[Reports of the collapse of the Soviet Union at the time]
On one side it was the backer who had fallen, and on the other side it was the United States and Europe encircled and intercepted it, and in the end, the DPRK chose to "close itself off from the rest of the country." They selectively made friends with other countries, and then engaged in their own development.
This has also led to a direct stagnation in the development of the DPRK Air Force, and while other countries are engaged in an "arms race" and are innovating weapons one by one, the DPRK has been gnawing at its old roots.
At present, the DPRK is far behind other countries in terms of fuel, intelligence, radar and communication systems, the quality of pilots, and logistical supplies.
[North Korea is still using the MiG-23 during the Cold War]
This means that even if the DPRK has the money to buy advanced fighters, its overall military system will not "be unable to move" these fighters, and radar, fuel, and other aspects must be upgraded in an all-round way, otherwise no matter how good the fighters are, they will only be a pile of scrap metal when they buy them back.
And if only a few fighters are purchased, it is not enough to change the disadvantage of the North Korean Air Force, unless it is expected to significantly increase the strength of the Air Force unless it is purchased on a large scale, but the problem behind this is that North Korea does not have so much financial support.
Because in addition to the cost of purchase, the fighter also needs a high military cost for maintenance every year.
Moreover, South Korea already has the F-35A, and if the two sides really fight, North Korea will still not be able to seize air supremacy with the J-10, and it is very likely that it will be destroyed on the ground early.
[歼-10]
When the time comes, it will not come in handy, and the cost and maintenance will be in ashes along with the fighters.
Another way of putting it
The summary of North Korea's military status quo on the Internet is very clear: North Korea believes that its real enemy is South Korea, and it does not matter who wants to do anything to North Korea, even if it is not South Korea, North Korea will directly attack South Korea.
【Geographical Location Relationship between North and South Korea】
Therefore, the DPRK's military development is based on the ROK, and in addition to the area and distance between the DPRK and the ROK, it will not use many fighters, and it is better to use the money to buy new fighters to buy several hundred Tornado launchers, which may have greater strategic value.
North Korea's military spending is limited, and maximizing its strategic significance is the most important thing, so North Korea has been working hard for more than ten years to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, which may not have more opportunities to go to the battlefield like the J-10, but can avoid many military threats.
[North Korea's nuclear weapons]
Therefore, whether it is from the perspective of military spending, or from the perspective of North Korea's military technology, or from the perspective of North Korea's development direction, it does not matter whether they buy J-10 or not.
Resources:
[1] South Korean media: North Korea's new air force commander visited China to buy J-10 Source: Global Network
[2] Kim Jong-un observes the Air Force Flying Competition, the DPRK Air Force rarely shows its background
[3] South Korea and the United States are close to the 38th parallel to carry out the "suppression of the enemy" exercise Du Wenlong: Such "playing with fire" does not rule out the possibility of a nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula in the future
[4] South Korean media: The US Air Force conducted an "elephant walk" at its base in South Korea earlier this month, which was believed to be aimed at North Korea's global network
[5] South Korea purchased 20 additional F-35 fighters Xinhua News Agency