The Korean defense market is booming. Until recently, the Korean defense industry served mostly so-called third world countries, especially Southeast Asia. But from the 2010s, things began to change… and from last year, due to the war in Ukraine, South Korea’s defense industry gathered the world’s attention due to that conflict’s “Cold-War” nature. South Korea is now the only country in the western block regularly producing more than 100,000 155mm artillery shells per month (the U.S., today, can produce around 30,000 per month), and can produce more tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and armored vehicles than any other NATO country. Simply speaking, at least in terms of quantity, South Korea has become one of the world’s defense industry powerhouses.

This industrial capability also applies to its small arms production. While South Korea still doesn’t get garner as much export orders as compared to other national defense industries, the South Korean small arms industry has considerable potential in terms of manufacturing capability. SNT Motive, the largest small arms manufacturer in Korea, still maintains production capability of hundreds of thousands of rifles per year. And combined with another South Korean small arms manufacturer, Dasan Machinery, the country can meet the demand for a considerable number of small arms. And with volatility of today’s world, nobody can anticipate when such demand might appear.

So, during this year’s ADEX (Aerospace and Defense Expo), a biannual defense expo in South Korea, there were a record number of foreign delegations and buyers. Most of them were interested in heavier products such as tanks, artillery, and missiles. But small the arms sector also drew many foreign visitors, and many small arms companies were eager to exhibit their latest developments.

SNT MOTIV

The largest display of small arms at the show was from SNT Motiv, as usual. But this year marked a special occasion. They’ve won a major contract from the South Korean Army Special Operation Command to produce its STC-16, the unit’s latest 5.56mm piston carbine. It was selected as the “Special Operations SMG” and officially became the K-13.

While the initial order is small, 1,710 units, there’s another trial underway for 16,000 more spec-ops carbines. Dasan’s DSAR-15PC was originally selected to fulfill this larger order in 2020, but that contract was cancelled in 2021 after the company was caught up in a scandal in which it was found to have gained an unfair advantage in the contract proceedings after gaining access to privileged DAPA (a South Korean defense purchasing agency) documents that bore classified information about the program’s requirements. As a result, Dasan has been sanctioned and has fallen out of favor and the order for those 16,000 carbines is likely to go to SNT Motiv; and since the Korean army is considering changing their entire stock of aging K2/K1 carbines in near future, SNT Motiv may move to the high ground with the award of the special forces contract.

CZUB

Another interesting development is the relationship between SNT Motiv and CZUB. Together, they’re trying to sell the CZ P10M pistol to the South Korean military. The guns will be manufactured in SNT Motiv’s Busan factory. While SNT Motiv tried to make a polymer- framed handgun during the early- to mid-2000s, its attempts failed due to lack of investment and now the company has fallen considerably behind in its effort to keep pace with its peers in this worldwide market trend.

Now, the Korean Army is considering new pistols to replace its aging K5 pistols, and it wants to field a modern, polymer-framed, striker-fired gun. SNT Motiv realizes it can’t do it alone within the budget and time constraints assumed by the Army, so they teamed up with CZUB. While there’s still no official tender for a new service sidearm, it’s highly likely that the special forces would soon begin their sidearm replacement program (they currently use the K5) with the Korean-made P10M(STP-9A) thought to be the strongest contender.

DASAN

Another Korean small arms manufacturer, Dasan, is unlikely to hold a large Korean government contract in near future, so the company seems to be concentrating on the export market. The company showed their previous products, such as the DSAR-15PQ carbine, but it also showed the latest versions of its XR-17 machine gun. They have become somewhat similar to FN’s Minimi/Maximi lineup, since the XR-17 now comes in both 5.56mm and 7.62mm NATO versions. It has a rotating bolt/gas piston operating system, and now also features hand guards not unlike the FN Evolys. The 7.62 NATO version also features a shorter feed cover, which allows the main weapon’s sight to stay in place on the receiver while the weapon is reloaded. The company brochure says both versions weigh 6.3 kg (13.89 lbs.), which we cannot yet confirm.

MACHINE GUN INTEREST

While the South Korean Army is fielding SNT Motiv’s K15 (5.56mm) and K16 (7.62mm) as their next-gen, light and medium machine guns, special forces are searching for new lightweight support weapons lighter than the SNT Motiv-made K15, which weighs in at 7.1 kg (15.65 lbs.). Dasan may submit its XR17, while SNT Motiv would submit its shorter “para” version of the K15, which was also displayed in SNT Motiv’s booth this year.

OTHER EXHIBITORS OF NOTE

Until this year, South Korea had only two military and police small arms manufacturers; SNT Motiv and Dasan Machinery. But now another company is emerging; a manufacturing company called K-Tech opened a booth this year and showed its small arms lineup… Well, they were all guns from Caracal, a United Arab Emirates-based small arms company.

Simply speaking, K-Tech is an off-shore manufacturing base of Caracal. Since UAE’s manufacturing capability still has something to be desired, a considerable amount of Caracal’s CAR 816 Sultan assault rifle orders were also produced by Dasan (and that’s why Dasan displayed the CAR 816 in its booth for a few years). But the Dasan-Caracal partnership ends this year, and K-Tech is taking Dasan’s place. We don’t know what happened between Dasan and Caracal, but K-Tech will begin manufacturing Caracal’s small arms very soon.

Also, Caracal wants to sell small arms to the Korean armed forces as an offset of UAE’s Korean arms imports. The UAE has imported billions of dollars-worth of weapons, such as surface to air missiles and anti-tank missiles, and probably would import more. Naturally, UAE also wants to sell some of its products to Korea, and small arms can be a good offset item. If that happens in a near future, K-Tech would also manufacture those weapons for the Korean armed forces.

There were more than just Korean small arms manufacturers at the show, as the exhibition featured stands from Poland and Colombia. Poland especially showed large range of small arms including their new, polymer-framed, striker-fired handgun, the FB MPS. It’s a typical looking polymer-framed, striker-fired weapon with a chassis-type fire control unit, very much in the same vein as SIG’s P320 or IWI’s Masada.

ADEX ATTENDEE NOTES

Location: ADEX’s traditional home is Seoul’s Seoul Air Base. It’s not a commercial airport, but an ROKAF base, which is also used by the ROK government for VIPs. Also, while the name is Seoul Air Base, it’s not in Seoul; it’s actually in Seongnam City, a suburb of Seoul. So, locals will more easily understand when you reference “Seongnam Airbase.”

Website: seouladex.com

ADEX Organizers Contact: promotion@seouladex.com

Next Show: October 2025

Show Focus This show is especially adapted to SMEs looking for contractors. The main advantage of this expo is that participants receive pre-arranged meetings with business partners—the ideal occasion to identify future commercial partners and to meet buyers.

Dress: business attire

Accommodation: Finding good tourist hotels in Seongnam is not easy, but you can find many good hotels in nearby southern Seoul for around $100 to $150 USD per night. There are less expensive options, but you may have a language barrier at such places. But even cheap hotels are quite safe, so you can leave your bags in your room.

Transportation The best option is taking the subway (line number 8 or Bundang line). Get off the train at Moran (line 8) or Taepyeong (Bundang line) station and take a shuttle bus or taxi to the expo. Your best option is a taxi since it’s not that expensive (no tips required) and it’ll take you close to the gate. You can take a rental car, but visitor parking space is very limited. If you’re an exhibitor or authorized press member, you may be entitled to use on-site parking.

Power & Plug Types 220v AC, with EU-type electricity plugs.

Currency The local currency is the Korean won. The U.S. dollar is not accepted at most places, but you can use most U.S. credit cards widely. Check xe.com for exchange rates.

Country Warnings Violent crime against foreigners is rare. South Korea is one of the safest countries to visit.

Tourism You can visit many interesting places in Seoul. There’s a very large war memorial museum in Seoul, which is worth visiting.

Other Tips Avoid weekends and Friday to visit ADEX. Visitors are heavily concentrated during those three days, especially on Saturday and Sunday (public days).

During the last (almost) 30 years, ROK (Republic of Korea) Army’s squad automatic weapon (SAW) was a K3 light machine gun. Developed and fielded at around the beginning of the 1990s, the K3 has been the backbone of ROK infantry squads’ firepower (one K3 per squad).

But there is, and always has been, a problem, its reliability.

The K3 was designed during the 1980s and was very heavily influenced by the FN Minimi. The problem is, during the 1980s, the Minimi itself wasn’t mature enough; and the K3 wasn’t a licensed copy of the Minimi. It was very close to the Minimi, but it’s highly doubtful FN actually supplied technical details to Daewoo Precision (today, S&T Motiv). So, the K3 can be considered as an imperfect copy (whatever the legal issues may be) of an immature weapon. It could be a problem,

and the problem isn’t over yet. The Minimi has been gradually upgraded over time. For example, the M249, a U.S. version of the Minimi, underwent a few incremental upgrades like M249E2 or E4. FN’s original version also underwent similar evolution, and now its Mk.3 is on the market. Simply speaking, the first-production version and current version of the Minimi/M249 are not exactly the same gun inside or outside. K3, on the other hand, has surprisingly not changed since its introduction—not even a minor upgrade like adding a MIL-STD-1913 rail on its feed cover.

With all those things mixed together, the K3 became quite a problem almost from the beginning. Many guns in ROK service suffered reliability issues, from minor to major. Some units considered the K3 as total junk, almost similar to the U.S. attitudes toward the .30-06 converted Chauchat. While later production guns were improved in terms of internal parts, dimension/tolerances and use of materials (for example, barrel life improved gradually during its production history), the reliability issues were never solved completely.

Trial Winner

During the last few years, the ROK Army and ROK gunmakers, namely S&T Motiv and Dasan Machineries, tried to make a new LMG for next generation the SAW. When Dasan, who is a new player in the ROK military small arms market, tried to call the attention of the ROK Army with new foreign products like the ARES-16, many people expected Dasan’s victory based upon the K3’s notoriety, but S&T Motiv beat the trial with its new “Next-Generation LMG;” a heavily upgraded K3. Around late 2018, it became the ROK Army’s new SAW with the new name of “K15.” It will be mass-produced and fielded around 2020.

The name K15 means it is the next Korean-made and standardized small arm after K-14, a bolt-action sniper rifle. Many people feel it is more like a K3A1 or such, but the military didn’t bother with that nomenclature. It’s more of a modernized K3, rather than a new model and is more like a relationship between the Minimi original and Minimi Mk.3.

But there are also a few significant different points between the two. The K15’s ergonomics are way better than the K3’s; K3 simply recycled K2’s buttstock and pistol grip, and it was not that comfortable to shoot. The K15 has a completely redesigned, adjustable buttstock and pistol grip/trigger group component to improve its ergonomics.

Internal parts are also completely redesigned. Of course, they are still our familiar Minimi-inspired designs, dimensions and specific shapes which were completely re-configured from K3. Many parts were also manufactured with closer tolerances than K3. Overall, S&T Motiv tried to make a much more reliable gun than the K3.

One thing that is interesting is the K15’s barrel latch mechanism. Unlike K3/Minimi, it uses a push button to hold and release its barrel, and the barrel has three upper positioning lugs to ensure its position on the receiver. With a push-button latch and three positioning lugs, the barrel would sit on a correct position virtually every time. Maybe ROK gunners suffered barrel alignment problems with its previous lever-type barrel latch, but I can’t be sure of the exact reason for the change.

Unlike Minimi/K3, the K15’s barrel latch is push-button type, and there are three positioning lugs above chamber.

External Changes

Moving to the externals again, the feed cover has its own MIL-STD-1913 rail, and the handguard has been completely redesigned. Now the K15 has MIL-STD-1913 rails on both sides and below. Also, the bipod has completely changed. The K3’s bipod was also a point of contention, but on the K15, the bipod is more like a mixture of the FAMAS and Mk.48 versions. While you need to operate each single bipod leg, the bipod gives a sturdier platform than the previous one. The front sight is also collapsible.

Actually, MIL-STD-1913 rails were one reason to develop the K15. The ROK Army is planning to use a new electro-optical (EO) sight and day-night laser sight (similar to the PEQ-15) on their new LMGs. The new EO sight is a day/night sight (thermal), with a laser rangefinder and ballistic computer. Simply speaking, it is a day/night fire control system. And those things need MIL-STD-1913 rails, which the K3 doesn’t have (the K3 could accept optics with a special adaptor, but having rails installed from the beginning is way better than using an adaptor).

One thing is the same: the feeding method. The K15 still uses the typical GI-issued 200-round plastic container and also can accept a STANAG magazine as well. During its design there has been debate over the magazine feed, which the German MG4 doesn’t have, and it can also save money while increasing the receiver strength. But the ROK Army still feels the magazine feed is necessary for emergencies; I think it’s from their experience with the K3, which sometimes had to use a magazine when its original belt-feed mechanism didn’t work (which often happened).

Testing the K15

I couldn’t test the gun within a military trial-like environment, like putting the gun in the sand or mud, and couldn’t fire much—I only fired 200 rounds—but during the test in the S&T Motiv’s company range, our test gun worked perfectly. The test shooter (not the author), who is a Reserve ROK Army Major, intentionally put no support on the K15’s ammo belt while shooting to see its feed mechanism’s reliability. It digested the whole belt with no hesitation.

The only drawback to the K15 compared to the K3 is its weight. While the K3 weighs slightly less than 7kg, K15 is close to Minimi Mk.3’s weight. Even without its bipod, the K15 weighs 7.16kg, already heavier than the K3. And with its “Full Set” configuration (gun itself + FCS) it weighs 8.4kg. But compared with the Minimi Mk.3, which is already close to 8kg without optics, it seems tolerable. I interviewed a few ex-K3 gunners, and all of them said that if the K15 is much more reliable, they would choose the K15, even with its added weight.

Since the K15 is not yet fielded, we have to wait to see how reliable it is in “real life” situations. I hope S&T Motiv’s R&D guys learned enough lessons from K3’s near-30-year life!

ADEX means “Aerospace & Defense Exhibition.” The show began as the Seoul Airshow in 1996 and gradually evolved into an airshow / defense exhibition. It is now by far the most important and largest defense expo in Korea and has a large display of ground equipment and small arms. 430 companies from 34 countries participate, and a few hundred thousand spectators visit each year.

While the show’s main participant target is the Korean military procurement market, it also drew many other countries’ interests as well, since many Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE show considerable interest in Korean defense products as do many Southeast Asian countries. Korean defense products like supply ships or self-propelled Howitzers are also constantly sold to non-Asian countries, such as Norway, Finland and Poland, and now the Australian Army is showing a strong interest in Hanwha Defense’s AS21 “Redback” IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle).

And how about small arms? Unlike other fields, especially aerospace, where many prominent foreign companies were represented, small arms were almost monopolized by Korean companies, namely S&T Motiv and Dasan Co. Actually, until 2016, small arms were virtually S&T Motiv’s monopoly, except a small batch of counter-terrorist weapons, but now Dasan also can supply military small arms if they win a bid, since as of 2016, Dasan Co. also got a license to supply the Korean military. So now the two companies have to compete against each other.

This provided considerable change this year, and the biggest change came from S&T Motiv. As Daewoo Precision’s successor (actually the same company with a different name and ownership), their portfolio didn’t change much since the early 1990s. Most of the weapons, especially rifles, carbines and machine guns, were simply variations of the so-called “K Series,” namely K1, K2 and K3. So, even when the ROK Army Special Forces are currently trying to find new carbines to replace the current K1A “SMG” (while it’s a 5.56 carbine, ROK nomenclature is “SMG,” because it mainly replaced the M3 Grease guns), S&T Motiv originally suggested a modified (shortened) K2 rifle, namely the K2C carbine or its variant. But things changed drastically this year.

This time, surprisingly, S&T Motiv showed us the new STC-16 carbine, which is basically an AR-based, piston-driven carbine. While K2 is also based upon the AR design, STC-16 is much more like “S&T’s interpretation of [the] HK416” rather than another variation of the K1/K2 series. This is because the competitor, Dasan, is now suggesting the DAR-15P carbine, another AR-piston carbine variant to customers, and the customers (especially Spec Ops guys) like DAR-15P more than their current “K Series” weapons. S&T Motiv felt it was time to have another platform other than K1/K2.

S&T Motiv also displayed some other surprising products, this time, an AK! And this time it’s purely for the export market. S&T Motiv is now trying to expand its export sales, since the ROK military has more than enough small arms. From the mid-1970s (when the current S&T Motiv was then government-owned Busan arsenal) to today, more than two million rifles and carbines (M16A1, K1/K2 variants) have been produced and procured by Korean military and police. Now the Korean military is downsizing from 600,000 to 500,000; it’s no wonder their procurement now is significantly reduced. S&T Motiv is still making K2C1 rifles (a flat-top variant of the K2 rifle), but K2C1 production is close to the end, and after that, no large-scale military contract is scheduled. So, S&T Motiv is now trying to make an export-specific portfolio, including an AK series and AR series. Actually, this time, S&T Motiv even showed us its own copy of the M4 carbine (STR-19), complete with the original direct impingement gas system!

Not only do S&T Motiv and Dasan compete for rifles and carbines, S&T Motiv and Dasan also now compete with each other for new machine guns. Now the ROK Army is looking for new 7.62NATO medium machine guns to replace M60s, and two companies are seriously competing with each other. While S&T Motiv is suggesting the K12 variant for infantry and vehicle mount, Dasan made its suggestions as well, under the name of XK-16 (infantry) and XK-17 (vehicle/aircraft). Dasan’s XK-16/-17 are actually variations of the FN MAG, with a few minor modifications. Unlike the original, Dasan’s are side-ejecting, and the barrel change system also has been changed to be similar to S&T Motiv’s K15 machine gun. Also, the XK-17 has a similar stock/spade grip system, which can be converted into a ground role immediately after removing the spade grip and extending the telescopic stock.

While this sounds ambitious, I don’t think it will really go anywhere; K11 has virtually failed, the ROK Army only bought a handful and wants no more, and since XM-25 also failed in the U.S. Army, I don’t think the ROK Army would seriously invest in a “Korean XM-25.”

Foreign Companies at ADEX

While guns themselves are a monopoly of Korean companies, optics and other accessories are not. Actually, optics was also a monopoly of a handful of Korean companies, but after many scandals and defective products, foreign companies also have a chance. There’s a considerable chance, because now the ROK military is trying to renovate its infantry equipment under the project “Warrior Platform.” ROK infantry equipment is outdated almost 20 years compared to top NATO countries, so the ROK military is trying to tighten the gap. Actually, this year, L3 Harris, Trijicon and Aimpoint set up booths and showed their products at ADEX. Also, while not having its own booth, Holosun products were shown on the Army’s own Warrior Platform booth as samples. They are not officially adopted, only supplied as samples, and it’s hard to imagine the ROK Army buying a considerable number of them. Surefire and OSS also supplied a small batch of suppressors as samples.

New Mortars

While not small arms, we also have two new mortars. One is S&T heavy industry’s (not the S&T Motiv, but within the same S&T conglomerate) 120mm semiautomatic mortar. Using a French-developed 120mm rifled mortar round, it can fire up to 13km (with a range-extended round) with a maximum fire rate of 10 rounds per minute. It uses a semiautomatic loading system and can be mounted on a 5-ton truck or on armored vehicles. The Korean Army will buy them as a self-propelled mortar for mechanized units.

The other mortar is HYUNDAI WIA’s KM114 lightened 81mm mortar. They produced the KM187 mortar, 81mm, for a long time since the 1990s. While the KM187 can fire range-extended ammo for the M252 mortar, the KM187 was somewhat heavier than M252, since KM187 was a lengthened version of the obsolete U.S. M29 mortar. KM114 is lightened version of the KM187, which reduced 20% of its weight using Titanium and Aluminum alloys for many parts. It also uses a high-tech digital control system, which helps very fast gun-laying and allows for less crews. The ROK Army is planning to use the mortar as a company level support weapon, replacing current 60mm mortars.

SHOW REPORT

Location

ADEX mostly has been, and will be, held at the Seoul airport. It’s not a commercial airport, but actually an airbase of ROKAF, which is used by the ROK government for VIPs. Also, while the name is Seoul Airport, it’s not in Seoul: it actually is in Seongnam City, which is a suburb of Seoul. So, locals will more easily understand when you say, “Seongnam Airbase.”

Website

seouladex.com

Contact

ADEX

Email: promotion@seouladex.com

Next Show

October 2021

Focus

This program is especially adapted to SMEs looking for contractors. The main advantage of this service being that participants receive pre-arranged meetings with business partners—the ideal occasion to identify future commercial partners and to meet buyers.

Dress

Business attire.

Accommodations

Finding good tourist hotels in Seongnam is not easy, but you can find many good hotels in southern Seoul, which is close to the site, for around $100 to $150 USD per night. There are less expensive ones, but you may have a language barrier at such places. But even cheap hotels are quite safe, so you can leave your bags at your room.

Transportation

The best option is taking the subway (Line No.8 or Bundang line), off the train at Moran (line 8) or Taepyeong (Bundang line) station and take a shuttle bus or taxi. I would recommend a taxi, since it’s not that expensive, no tips required, and it’ll take you right in front of the gate. You can take a rental car, but driving on congested Korean roads with sometimes violent Korean drivers, is one of the last things to be recommended in Korea.

Power & Plug Types

220v AC, with EU-type electricity plugs.

Currency

Korean won. The U.S. dollar is not accepted at most places, but you can use most U.S. credit cards at almost any place. Check xe.com for exchange rates.

Country Warnings

Violent crimes against foreigners are rare; actually, South Korea is one of the safest countries to visit. Even when crime happens, virtually no firearms are involved.

Tourism

You can visit many interesting places in Seoul; there’s a very large war memorial museum in Seoul, which is worth visiting.

Other tips

Avoid weekends and Friday to visit ADEX: visitors are heavily concentrated during those 3 days, especially on Saturday and Sunday (public days).

Recently there has been an upswing in interest regarding the weapons of North Korea.  This is due not only to the current saber rattling in the region and the changing of the leadership, but to how difficult it is to obtain accurate information as well as the disinformation campaigns that have been successfully waged by the North Korean propaganda bureaus.  Heebum Hong and Dan Shea have studied the small arms of North Korea for decades and both consider that many of the indigenously made small arms are of very good quality.  They have combined their efforts to make this article as inclusive and comprehensive as possible.  The article starts with the elusive Type 73 machine gun, and then takes a more organized historical perspective.

The North Korean Type 73 machine gun is probably one of the most unknown mass-produced automatic weapons in the world.  Most Communist Bloc firearms stopped being so secret after the fall of the Soviet Union, but North Korean firearms are still hidden behind a shroud.  Even within the mist of secrecy regarding North Korean firearms, the Type 73 is still clouded in mystery.  Vague pictures showing parts of the Type 73 as soldiers carried them were released from time to time in North Korean propaganda films, but no details were ever released.  The Type 73 was occasionally spotted in the surveillance photos taken by South Korean or U.S. forces.  The reason for the rarity of sightings is, of course, their obsessive secrecy; so top secret in fact, that most of North Korea’s indigenous weapons have no printed manual.  Armorers or mechanics have to learn, memorize, and if one really wants to have some kind of manual to refer to, he has to hand-write one.  Manuals like this are one-of-the-kind, and hard to get out of North Korea.

Left side view of Type 73 machine gun at a South Korean Special Forces display.

Refugees who escape North Korea via China sometimes have information, but that information might have some problems.  Because of the rules of absolute secrecy, even those with long military backgrounds usually can’t figure out what’s going on in any other unit so their information is often limited.  Many of those refugees also give exaggerated information because they want to make themselves look more important and essential as a bargaining chip in refugee status, or they believe and parrot the typical North Korean propaganda.  South Koreans have learned that if you believe all the stories from refugees from the North, you will believe North Korea is a country that has the world’s strongest army, with enough weapons, the skill, and the will to destroy the rest of the world’s armies altogether.  It would be foolhardy to not consider the North Korean military and their special units to be highly trained as well as skilled fighters, but the perspective should be kept to scale – the North Korean military is a regional threat.  They also have excellent small arms and good quality equipment for their top tier units as well as clandestine exports.

Right side of Type 73 receiver section. Similarity to the PK/M type receiver is obvious. Note the top cover and magazine. The magazine is very similar to the Vickers-Berthier .303 caliber magazine.

In such an environment, reliable information about the Type 73 is very hard to come by, but the South Korean army has one sample.  Another has been captured from insurgents in Iraq.  The South Koreans have not revealed how they got their sample, but there is speculation that after a heavy flood in the North, the dead body of a North Korean soldier might have been found south of the DMZ, with this Type 73 machine gun on a sling attached to the body.

The sample viewed reveals some interesting features.  First, the Type 73 is outwardly based upon the Russian PKM machine gun, which is not so surprising; but the feeding system is another matter entirely.  The Type 73 uses a dual feeding system, and can utilize either a top mounted magazine, or a side fed metallic belt.  This is very peculiar, since it’s using 7.62x54R ammunition, not the 7.62×39 round.  This means the Type 73 must use its own special 30 round magazine, not an AK47 magazine (in this case it would have been the North Korean Type 58 or 68 rifles).  Even though the Type 73 can be used as a magazine-fed machine gun, the gunner has no option to use a magazine from his comrade riflemen.  Thus, the Type 73 is an anomaly.

Left side view of Type 73 receiver, showing link ejection port cover, cartridge ejection port cover (lower on the receiver), and top cover hinge.

In fact, weighing more than 10kg (approximately 22.05 lbs), and using a full-power rifle cartridge (not lower powered assault rifle cartridges like the 7.62x39mm), with its quick change barrel configuration, the Type 73 is technically close to a GPMG, rather than what are called squad automatic weapons like the RPD or the MINIMI/M249.  South Korean military intelligence assumes that the gun was developed at least partially for the SAW role.  Using the larger caliber is considered to be a counter weapon to the U.S. M60 GPMG that was prevalent in U.S. and South Korean forces in the conflict zones.  North Korea is quite sensitive over what the U.S. and South Koreans use, and the North Korean analysts have closely studied the Vietnam War.  Since no one knows the real reasons, we only can speculate.

The North Koreans decided to make a SAW similar to the M60 GPMG though a puzzling addition is the magazine-fed capability.  There are several possible influences on this; many of the North Korean army staff during the 1970s had served in the Chinese army before 1945, and even after that, a considerable number of ZB26 or even Bren LMGs (which were lend-leased to China) were in service in the North Korean army for a while through Chinese support.  While box magazine feeding limited the firepower, it’s far more comfortable to carry the weapon with ammunition.  Having a 100 round ammo can under a PK or PKM is somewhat cumbersome, but the 30 round magazine lowered weight and was easier to carry and fast to reload.  South Korean army analysts consider that the Type 73 gunner would be carrying his machine gun with 30 round magazine inserted, and if a threat appears, fire the ammo from magazine immediately.  After the ammo in the magazine is depleted, he can assume a relatively stable shooting position and change his ammo source from magazine to belt, which he carried in his satchel or pouch.  This is based on observation and sightings of North Korean Type 73 machine gunners carrying the weapon with a magazine inserted.

‘Club’ style stock, reminiscent of RPK or RPD stocks.

Forward section of the barrel on the Type 73 showing the muzzle brake sleeve installed. This barrel sleeve is stored on a pod mount under the barrel. The original barrel is set up to launch rifle grenades.

One more probable reason for the Type 73’s dual-feed adaptation is North Korea’s affiliation with Czech firearms.  North Korea has used many Czech firearms from the 1960s on, especially for special operations.  Their behind-the-line operatives’ favorite machine pistol was, and still is, a suppressed Vz61 Skorpion and some CZ82s were found in a North Korean spy’s weapon cache.  Most of all, the CZ75 was copied by North Korea and used as the officer’s standard pistol.  Rumor says that the late Kim Jung Il, who was an avid gun collector, personally preferred Czech firearms.  North Korean firearms developers were clearly influenced by the Czech VZ52 machine gun, another dual-feed weapon which utilizes either belt feed or a top mounted magazine.

Whatever the reason for development, North Korean military leadership was not so impressed with the Type 73; while it could sometimes be seen in 1970s propaganda and at military parades, from the early 1980s it’s been more and more difficult to see one in use.  In 1982, the Type 82 machine gun appeared in service.  The Type 82 is basically a PKM copy without magazine feeding capability.  It seems that many Type 73s were moved to reserve or militia service, but nobody can be sure.  The only thing we can confirm is that the Type 82 is much more visible in active duty North Korean army service, while the Type 73 is very rare today.

There’s only one sample each of Type 73 and Type 82 known to the public: a Type 73 is in South Korean Army custody, and a Type 82 is possessed by the Japanese Coast Guard – they recovered one from a North Korean spy ship they sunk in 2002.  (One more Type 73 has recently been captured in Iraq.)  While the Type 82 is basically a copy of the PKM, you can see some similarity with the Type 73 from its stock, bipod and rear sight.

Type 82 machine gun, which replaced the Type 73 in general service. The Type 82 shows a lot of commonality with the PK/M series of machine guns. Caliber is 7.62x54R, link fed from belts from the right. No magazine capability.

Lineage of North Korean Firearms
There had been some small production of firearms in the North Korean areas during the 1800s-1946, but it was one-off of early firearm styles.  The North Korean military was initially started with Soviet Union supplied rifles – the Mosin-Nagant, the SKS, and small quantities of SVT-40s, as well as a variety of machine guns and handguns.  The first weapon manufactured locally was the Type 49 submachine gun, made in 1949.  This was a license built copy of the Soviet PPSh-41 or “Pappa-sha.”  The North Koreans chose to use the 71-round drums and not the 35-round curved magazines.  Speculation is that the ‘Great Leader’, Kim Il Sung, thought the large-capacity drum was intimidating and tactically an advantage.  The Type 49 was the main submachine gun of the North Korean army, and they used these extensively during the 1950s Korean War.  Their main infantry weapon was the rifle, which was used much more than any submachine gun, but the image of those ‘Burp Guns’ with large drum magazines was so strong, that it became the symbol of the ‘communist intruders’ in South Korea, just like the MP40 became a symbol of Nazi Germany, out of it’s actual proportion of use in the German army.