North Korea was one of several recipients of Soviet military technological aid during the Cold War, being provided the design package and manufacturing assistance for both he SKS and AK-47 rifles. The AK was adopted by North Korea in 1958, in the Type 3 milled-receiver style. This was just shortly before the Soviet Union would introduce its stamped-receiver AKM, having spent nearly 10 years developing and perfecting the sheet metal fabrication expertise required (the original stamped-receiver AK-47 was a failure in mass production).

North Korea only produced something on the order of 50,000 Type 58 AKs - a substantial number of guns, although quite small in comparison to most other AK variants produced worldwide. They have found their way into numerous conflicts worldwide, but very few are registered and transferrable in the US, making this one quite the rare example.