Democratic People's Republic Of Korea Uniforms In Wear.

[zscout370]

Here is another walking christmas tree.

Two suspension medals in the bottom on the right side which I assume relates to the Korean Liberation war in 1950-1953, as I have two such ones at home that look exactly the same, and some on the left side (two looks Bulgarian),

I do see many Bulgarian awards on the left side of his uniform. And yall are right, this arrangement makes Brezhnev look good.

Zach

[Esteban_cool]

there is also a cuban award, the last one at the bottom.

Altough the picture does not show the whole christmas tree, take a look on the heavy embroidery, the shoulderboards and the marshal star (?). Sorry for the poor pic. :(

Esteban

[Esteban_cool]

Sharing some interesting pics I found. Any help appreciated.
BTW, the first uniform looks like a miner`s one... Or am I wrong?

Esteban

[DougD]

I think the first is regular police, not miner. There are no good books on NK uniforms; there are some guides to medals, but that's about all I know of. If anyone knows of a book on NK uniforms I'd love to get a copy myself.

A good shot of North Korean Marshals uniforms. If this country "falls" in my lifetime I'll be on line to get one of their uniforms.

DougD

[shrhie]

No, he is not wearing miner's uniform. The red armband on his coat says 'Traffic Secirity'. I think that he is a traffic policeman. The guys pictured in the third and fifth pictures are DMZ security personnel(I've seen them myself at Panmunjum)

Actually they are not 'Full Marshals'. There are only two who hold the rank of 'full marshal'. The first one is Kim Jong il himself(Marshal of The Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and the second one is Lee Ul Sol(Marshal of The People's Liberation Army of Korea).

The pictuere was taken during the parade for the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the 'Worker's Party of Korea(Ruling party of NK)'which was held on 10th.Oct in 2005. The General who stands next to Kim Jung Il is Cho Myoung Rok(Deputy of Kim Jung Il), the general next to him is Kim Young Chun(Chief of Staff), and the third one is Kim Il Chul(Deputy minister of Defense) All of them hold the rank of 'Vice Marshal'- one rank below the rank of full marshal.

Major General(Sojang, 소장)
Lt.General(Joongjang, 중장)
General(Deajang, 대장)
Full General(Sangjang, 상장)

Vice Marshal(Chasoo, 차수)
Marshal(Wonsoo, 원수)
Generallismo(Daewonsoo, 대원수).

best regards
Rhie

p.s: Unlike the Soviets, they don't have 'Branch Marshals'

[Tretov]

Maybe a bit off-topic, but does Kim Jong Il never appear in uniform?

[shrhie]

Tretov.
It seems that he is not that much fond of uniforms as we are. There is no such photograph showing him dressed in military uniform. However, some propaganda paintings and portrait paintings do show 'Marshal Kim Jong Il' in full uniform, as shown in the cover of the Time magazine.

[Synthesis]

I have that issue. The answer was revealed to be, if memory serves, "...because he just saved fifteen-percent on his car insurance..." :thumbsup

Not really fond of the high officer's dress uniforms (those "loose" rank boards kind of irritate me, same goes for the Chinese), but the khaki field uniforms (non-camoflaged) do look very sharp, I think. Vaguely "futuristic" M79 field dress, I guess.

Don't like the hats much though. The single-color look is overdone.

[willie777]

those "loose" rank boards kind of irritate me, same goes for the Chinese

NK boards are slip on with the strap, like East German and Soviet ones for the shirts and the Naval "choker". Soviet officer tunics before M55 (M49 for AF and Armor) I think had slip on's. Enlisted had slip on's before M69. (Soviet boards don't have a loose appearance...somehow. Possibly wider strap?) Chinese boards, I'm not sure starting when, uses (and still does) SLIDE on boards. There is an epaulet on the jacket (like the last model Soviet EM uniform), and a shoulder slide slides on it. Unlike most countries the chinese shoulder slide actually has a button hole on it for the epaulet button.

[kliment]

Hello,
Green is the branch colour for the public security agencies in DPRK. The first pic is a traffic policeman, his female collegues working in empty boulevards are a common attraction of today's Pyongyang. They wear blue uniforms (white jackets in summer) with green collar tabs and rank insignias on the shoulderstraps.
The men trying to manage a hooligan in the second pic are ordinary policeman. They wear khaki kitels (soviet M43 style) with blue or khaki trousers.
Pics 3 and 5 are DMZ military guards with typical officer's belts and the special upper left arm badge.
Pic 4 is a major-general in service dress with old-style gold background collar tabs, since 2-3 years the background has become khaki green, and the generals are the first to profit from the novelty. The parkas are quite symbolic: at the end of the nineties Kim Jong-Il begins to wear a grey one (the same as on the pic) as some seniors members of his retinue, the design is rather civilian but a khaki version is made, apparently first for the bodyguards then for the generals (as you see on the pic) to replace the grey ones. But this modern design do not seems to be very common and I think his wearing remains a sort of privilege.
Miners uniforms are black (grey for work) and very austere. Rank insignias are on collar tabs (black, red piping).