North Korea’s Air Force has proposed a significant expansion of enrollment at the Kim Chaek Air Force University to train more aircraft maintenance technicians.
The initiative, revealed by a military source, is aimed at improving the professionalism of equipment personnel in air force units. The proposal, sent by the Korean People’s Army Air and Anti-Air Force Headquarters to the KPA Party Committee, calls for both qualitative and quantitative improvements in the training of technical maintenance commanders.
“The crux of the proposal is to speed up the modernization of the air force as demanded by the Eighth Party Congress and to improve the efficiency of the air force’s general operations and the safety of aircraft by raising the standard of commanders in charge of the technical maintenance of aircraft,” the source said.
The Air Force Party Committee believes that the aircraft accidents that have occurred since the Eighth Party Congress in 2021 are not only due to outdated airframes, but also to maintenance problems and a lack of technical skills. It proposed to solve this problem by stepping up efforts to train technical maintenance personnel over the next three years.
In its proposal, the party committee of the Air Force Headquarters proposed to establish a training system in which outstanding graduates of civilian technical colleges are enrolled in the military and directly trained as technical maintenance commanders at the Kim Chaek Air Force University.
“In its proposal, the Air Force Headquarters Party Committee said it plans to create a special class at Kim Chaek Air Force University by actively recruiting outstanding talents who are due to graduate from civilian technical universities and operate a separate class schedule to improve the professionalism of airframe maintenance commanders,” the source said.
The Air Force Headquarters has long selected serving personnel from air force units to be trained as technical maintenance commanders at Kim Chaek Air Force University in Chongjin, North Hamgyong province. The proposal would add to this by recruiting and selecting civilians who are about to graduate from the university to train as technical maintenance commanders.
If the KPA Party Committee ratifies the proposal, the number of technical maintenance personnel will increase significantly over the next three years.