by Stijn Mitzer & Joost Oliemans.
Softcover (8.2×11.7 inches). 80 pages. 2026.
Subtitle: Volume 3: The Korean People’s Army Navy
The third volume moves on to North Korea’s Navy. Like the previous two volumes, it contains an overview of the topic, complete with a considerable amount of tech and specs. I can’t say I read every word about engines, radar, missiles, and other subsystems, but I appreciated the comparisons and analysis of what all those specs meant to North Korean Navy capabilities.
North Korea concentrated on developing mostly gunboats and fast attack craft, but also small warships up to corvette and frigate size. They paired a wide variety of missiles to the hulls and have expanded their shipbuilding to include ballistic missile submarines and possibly a nuclear-powered submarine.
North Korea also invested heavily in hovercraft troop carrier construction, apparently fielding the world’s largest number of military hovercrafts.
The book contains 130 color photos, 12 black and white photos, two color maps, and 28 color camouflage illustrations (22 ships and boats, four submarines, one hovercraft, and one missile-launching vehicle).
As you might imagine, most of the information comes from internet searches and other public information. For those interested in ultramodern naval topics, this volume consolidates a considerable amount of information about the North Korean Navy into one volume.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
