Korean People's Army Foundation Day in North Korea Date in the current year: April 25, 2025

The Korean People’s Army (KPA) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of its ruling party, the Workers’ Party of Korea. The KPA in its present form was officially established on February 8, 1948. Its predecessor, the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, was founded by Kim Il Sung on April 25, 1932, to fight the Imperial Japanese Army.

The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People’s Army Ground Force, the Korean People’s Navy, the Korean People’s Army Air Force, the Korean People’s Army Strategic Force and the Korean People’s Army Special Operations Forces. It also includes the DPRK Missile Administration, which oversees missile development. As of 2025, it is one of the five largest military organizations in the world in terms of active personnel.

The DPRK has universal conscription for men and selective conscription for women; the age of conscription is 17. Men serve up to 10 years (13 years in specialized forces) and women serve up to 7 years in all forces. Some people are exempt from conscription, including children of the political and military elite, skilled workers and technicians, and those who have a particularly low ascribed social status (songbun).

The Foundation Day of the Korean People’s Army is celebrated twice a year, on February 8 and April 25, to commemorate the two founding anniversaries. However, from 1978 to 2014, only the 1932 anniversary was celebrated.