List of active ships of the Korean People's Navy

Type	Class	Country of Origin	In Service	Notes	Photo
Diesel-electric submarine	Sinpo/Gorae-class	North Korea	1	First vessel in shipyard 2014, Experimental Ballistic Missile Submarine. May also be known as 'Gorae' (Whale class). Some reports suggests as many as 6 boats are being built, although others indicate that this is a single ship class for missile launch development only.[1][2]
Diesel-electric coastal submarine	Golf-class	Soviet Union	10	In 1993, ten were sold to North Korea for scrap. According to some sources, the North Koreans are attempting to get these boats back into service.
Diesel-electric coastal submarine	Sang-O-class	North Korea	40+	Manufactured in two variants, 34m Sang-O and 39m Sang-O II. 1 captured by ROK. North Korean Special Operation Force uses specially equipped Sang-O for missions.
Diesel-electric midget submarine	Yono-class	North Korea	~10	Iran operates a variant as the Ghadir-class submarine
Diesel-electric submarine	Romeo-class submarine	Soviet Union	<22	KPA Journal reported that these are being phased out in favor of Sang-O/Sang-O II[3] Sold as kits from China and was assembled in North Korea. Used by North Korean Special Operation Force for special maritime missions.

Note:  According to a 2010 report published by the BBC, "the North Korean military is in possession of a fleet of about 70 submarines, comprised of approximately 20 Romeo class submarines (1,800 tons), 40 Sang-O class submarines (300 tons) and 10 midget submarines including the Yono class submarines (130 tons)."[4]

Type	Class	Country of Origin	In Service	Notes	Photo
Frigate	Krivak-class, Amnok class, Tuman class	Soviet Union	1(?)	Unknown status of service [5] and suspected to be incomplete hull sold to North Korea[6] (Hetman Bayda Vyshnevetsky was a Nevef (Krivak III) cancelled ship for Ukrainian Navy c. 1995) Appeared close to completion on 20 March, 2020 when observed from satellite photos.[7]
Light frigate	Najin-class	North Korea	2	Old vessels, one was modernized in 2014[8]
Experimental catamaran frigate	Soho-class	North Korea	1	Reported retired in 2009.[9]
Helicopter-carrying light frigate	Nampo-class	North Korea	2 ~ 3	Under construction[9]
Frigate	Sariwon-class	North Korea	5	Based on Tral-class
Corvette/minesweeper	Fugas-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	2	Ex-Т-2 Tros (c. 1935) and ex-T-8 Cheka (c. 1936) transferred 1953. Probably in reserve due to old age.

Note:  Satellite images from 2007 indicate that the empty hull of a Krivak-class frigate was purchased by North Korea around 2003. The ship was likely bought from a Russian scrap dealer, lacking any weapons or radar upon purchase. While it was assumed that North Korea purchased the hull for scrap metal, it remains in its original state for nearly five years, and has been transported from Wonsan to Nampo Harbor. Satellite images from 2007 also show 2 new North Korean Helicopter Frigates; though it is unknown whether they are ready for service.[10][11]

Only 2 ships in the KPN have aviation capability with only the Nampo-class corvette the only active ship with facilities (so far only 1 Nampo vessel has visible landing pad).[15] The rotary aircraft would likely be the Mil Mi-4 PL Mil Mi-14 PL (ASW)[9] and are flown by Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force.

• List of North Korean merchant ships

• Global Security