본문 바로가기
  • Home

A Study on the Establishment Process of the North Korean Maritime Security Forces: Focusing on the Origins and early Officers of the North Korean Navy

Kim, Seon-ho 1

1인천카톨릭대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The Maritime Security Forces(MSF) that were first established in North Korea were the Coastal Guard. The West Sea Coastal Guard was established in June 1946, and the East Sea Coastal Guard was established in July and August. And the name of the coastal guard was renamed as coast security forces in September. In April 1947, the coast security forces base was expanded to include the West Sea Coast Security Battalion(CSB) and the East Sea CSB. The main mission of the MSF was to guard of coastal area, to stop smuggling and to secure secret passage. Most of the commanders of the marine security forces were from the Korean Volunteer Army group, who graduated from regular military schools. On July 8, 1947, the North Korean political forces established a coast security officer school in Wonsan. The MSF were under the jurisdiction of the central administrative agency. However, the MSF command system collided with each other between the Soviet army, administrative and judicial agencies. The Soviet Military Command and the North Korean Prosecutor’s Office directly intervened in the work of the CSB. The CSB considered such intervention to be illegal and reported the intervention to the Interior Bureau. The Interior Bureau directly investigated the intervention of the Soviet Military Command and recovered the items exported by the Soviet Military Command. In addition, the Interior Bureau instructed the CSB not to take orders from the Prosecutors’ Office. After that, the command of the MSF was taken over by the Interior Bureau. The North Korean MSF were established at a time similar to that of the South Korean Coastal Guard(SKCG), but the SKCG was overwhelmingly large. It was because the US military government actively supported the expansion of the SKCG. The Soviet Union did not actively support the creation of MSF as compared to the United States. Only a small number of Soviet military advisers were stationed in North Korean MSF, and there were no Soviet weapons and equipments. The MSF were unable to expand their power because the Soviet military support was delayed. As a result, the North Korean MSF were separated from the military establishment process and remained as security forces of the central administrative agency. Also, the creation of the North Korean Navy was delayed.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.