Clarification of U.S military view on DPRK

[Totentanz]

I think it's also a reasonable assumption that the DPRK works hard to ensure the military is better fed and cared for than the population at large. I'm sure there are significant differences within unit types but if that Soldier is indicative of the nutrition of active-duty conventional forces I can only imagine what the population at-large is like.

I read years ago - and I can't remember the source so not sure the data behind it - that the average North Korean was 6 inches shorter and 30 IQ points dumber than their average South Korean counterpart due to malnutrition.

The part that jumped out to me is that I assume that NK and SK handle their border deployments in similar fashion to India and Pakistan (fuck Pakistan) in that - in addition to what you said above - they send their biggest dudes to eat well, work out, and intimidate the other side as best they can. One article said the defector was 5'5" and 132 lbs. If that's at all representative of NK's goon squad... holy crap.

 

[Kaldak]

When I accompanied my grandfather to Korea as part of a 6th Anniversary tour, when we visited the DMZ, our briefing included a diagram showing how much defectors have shrunk in average hieght. The male average was 5'5" and the female was 4'11". They also informed us that the NK's we would see at the border are the tallest soldiers in their military to present a picture of strenght. They were insanely skinny, but all 6ft+. It was very bizarre including the dude standing way back using a camcorder from the 80s to record us.