The first unclassified account of the armed forces of one of the most isolated and unpredictable nations in Asia - North Korea.

North Korea is home to one of the world's few remaining Stalinist dictatorships. Still technically at war with South Korea, the political system of this rogue state can at best be described as volatile. Years of self-imposed isolation have contributed to the slow collapse of economic and social structures; its public image is unreliable. And yet North Korea maintains the fifth largest armed forces and the largest special operations force in the world, and occupies the dubious position of leading exporter of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

Despite a decade of financial crisis, famine and natural disaster, the Korean People's Army remains a significant threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula and to East Asia. Here, for the first time at an unclassified level, is an authoritative and in-depth analysis of North Korea's armed forces, its secret intelligence agencies and its efforts to develop ballistic missiles and nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Based upon years of research, Shield of the Great Leader makes use of diverse collections of declassified intelligence documents, interviews with intelligence and government officials throughout the world, and extensive debriefings of North Korean defectors. Individual chapters cover command and control, organisation, the Korean People's Air Force, Korean People's Navy, paramilitary forces, intelligence services, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. The book includes numerous organisational charts, tables and maps.

Shield of the Great Leader is essential reading for anyone interested in Korean or East Asian security and intelligence affairs. For foreign policy officials and academics concerned with the crucial issues of ballistic missiles development in the Third Word and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to the general public interested in world affairs, this is the most comprehensive account of the military capabilities of North Korea available.