Inside North Korea's shadowy military that's great in size but poorly ...

North Korea is believed to be sending up to 12,000 troops to fight alongside Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Pyongyang has a sizeable armed force, including an army of more than a million soldiers.

So, what do we know about the North Korean military?

Information about the North Korean armed forces is hard to verify, as it is one of the world's most secretive states.

In 2024, 16% of all state spending went on defence, making North Korea one of the most militarised societies worldwide.

All men between the ages of 17 and 30 have to enlist in the military, and they have to serve anything from 3 to 12 years.

The Korean People's Army or KPA, has an estimated 1.3 million active personnel.

That includes a million-strong army, an air force of 110,000, and a navy of 60,000. It also has nearly 7,000 personnel involved in cyber warfare.

Those numbers make it one of the world's largest militaries, beaten only by the likes of China and the United States.

Analysts believe Pyongyang can also call on a further 600,000 reservists.

The KPA has a lot of conventional military equipment, including more than 3,500 tanks, although a lot of it is old Soviet-era armour.

North Korea's air force has more than 400 fighter aircraft, 80 bombers and more than 200 transport aircraft but again many of them date from the Soviet Union with some thought to be 80 years old.

The Korean People's Army Naval Force has around 470 surface vessels, including guided missile ships and torpedo boats.

It also has around 70 submarines, including Romeo-class boats built by the Soviets in the late 1950s.

North Korea is also one of only nine countries in the world known to have nuclear weapons.

It is believed that some of its ballistic missiles, which can be armed with nuclear warheads, are capable of reaching anywhere in the United States.