North Korea has at least eight intercontinental ballistic missiles(ICBM) in its arsenal, according to global think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies’(IISS). 

Radio Free Asia reported on the estimates presented by the group in its annual report The Military Balance 2021 issued this month.

The IISS assessed that the state of the North's Hwasong-16 multiple-warhead-carrying ICBM, unveiled at the 75th anniversary parade of the ruling Workers' Party last October, is uncertain.

It estimated that Pyongyang has more than three-thousand-500 Main Battle Tanks(MBT), five-thousand-500 Multiple Rocket Launchers(MRL), 71 submarines and 545 combat aircraft.

North Korea is believed to have a military force of around one-point-28 million troops, with one-point-one million in the Army, 60-thousand in the Navy, 110-thousand in the Air Force and ten-thousand in special ballistic missile forces.

The report assessed that the North is directing investment toward the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles transporters, but their efficacy against more technically advanced enemies remains to be seen.

[Photo : YONHAP News]