[1][2] The PDC is composed of 70,000 KPA personnel who, alongside the Supreme Guard Command and the III Corps, are responsible for the defense of the capital.

[3][4] According to North Korea analyst Joseph F. Bermudez, the command operates, unlike its two counterparts, inside the Pyongyang area.

[6] The command was established under the Ministry of National Defence (now the Ministry of People's Armed Forces) in 1955 with the aim of defending the national capital from the South Korean Army and the Eighth United States Army following the UN offensive into North Korea.

[11] The command utilizes the Youth Hero Motorway as a military route for the southern DPRK alongside the III Army Corps.

During a potential Coup d'état or a foreign invasion, tank divisions are deployed to the highway to cut off access to the capital.