NKnews.org is reporting that North Korea recently held a tank competition event similar to the Russian Tank Biathlon. The event was attended by dictator Kim Jong Un and featured a variety of different tank types. According to Kim Min-seok, senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, the majority of the North Korean tanks observed at the event our outdated types no match for modern South Korean armor.
“Most of the tanks seen in the pictures are outdated models,” said Kim. “The tanks in pictures are Chonma-ho Ga(Na) type, PT-72 the amphibious tank and Chonma-ho Ma type. Except for the Chonma-ho Ma type, all the rest are outdated by today’s standards.”
Nonetheless, Kim believes that the Pokpung-ho, the tank shown in the red circle of the photo is formidable adversary.
“This Pokpung-ho Tanks have gone through many phase of modifications to upgrade its defense. Such a model will be able to fight evenly against South Korea’s old tanks such as M4845, however its firepower will still not match that of South Korea’s main tanks such as the K-1 or K1a1.”
Despite the outdated tanks, the rules introduced in this first North Korean tank competition look very similar to the the Tank Biathlon, the Russian tanks competition, Kim said.
Tank and AFV News 
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