The Korean word "Ppalchisan(빨치산)" is derived from the French word "Partisan" and refers to irregular armed guerrillas. During the Korean War, they were also called "Gongbi(공비)".
The word "Ppalchisan" has taken on a slightly different meaning in South Korea. It refers to the anti-Japanese armed guerrillas active in Manchuria during the Japanese invasion of the 1930s and 1940s, led by Kim Il-sung. The North Korean regime emphasizes them as the "roots of the revolution" and its legitimacy.
The Ppalchisans, while based on irregular guerrilla tactics rather than regular military forces, actually functioned as well-organized, elite units.
Those of "Ppalchisan origin" formed the core power structure (Ppalchisan faction) after the establishment of the North Korean regime and contributed to the establishment of Kim Il-sung's one-man dictatorship.
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| Ppalchisan made in gemini Ai |
Also, there is a history that imprinted the memory of Ppalchisans = Communists or Leftist. During the Korean War on June 25, 1946, the communist South Korean Workers' Party (남로당) organized and carried out armed guerrilla activities. They were mainly active in mountainous areas such as Jiri Mountain (지리산), and were a communist armed force (남부군) that disrupted the rear of the Republic of Korea. They cut off the supply routes of the national army and waged fierce and persistent guerrilla warfare, but most of them were wiped out in large-scale suppression operations after 1953.
In the relationship between North Korea and Iran, the keyword "Ppalchisan" primarily refers to the bond between North Korea's founding ideology, the "Ppalchisan spirit," and Iran's "Independent Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
North Korea considers Kim Il-sung's anti-Japanese Ppalchisan activities as the roots of its nation, while Iran seized power through the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Both countries justify their military cooperation by sharing the narrative of "nations founded through the struggle against imperialism (the United States)." "Ppalchisan" originally refers to guerrilla units, not regular armies. Iran conducts asymmetrical warfare, guerrilla-style, by planting "proxies" throughout the Middle East, and is known to have borrowed techniques such as North Korean tunneling technology and Ppalchisan tactics in this process.
During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, North Korea dispatched weapons and military advisors to Iran. It is believed that North Korea's "Ppalchisan-style military advisors" influenced the early tactics of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran does not actually have a unit called a "Ppalchisan"; rather, it is the combination of North Korea's guerrilla tradition and Iran's revolutionary spirit that has led to decades of cooperation between Iran and North Korea on missiles and conventional weapons.
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| North korea and Iran made in gemini Ai |
In the 1980s, North Korea fully supported Iran, but the situation has recently changed with Iran possessing the largest conventional military force and drones in the Middle East. Iran's advancements in drone technology are increasing the likelihood of drone and precision guidance technology being transferred to North Korea, further strengthening technological cooperation between the two countries.
Furthermore, North Korea previously boasted an overwhelming military advantage over Iran. But According to the recent 2026 Global Firepower (GFP) survey, Iran ranks 16th in military power, based on precision missiles, drone technology, and the size of its military forces in the Middle East. North Korea, with its nuclear weapons, submarine fleet, and large ground forces, ranks 31st.
