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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| N. Korea Swiftly Expanding Its Special Forces |
| 2009-10-11 |
| Commandos Trained in Terror Tactics In Effort to Maintain Military Threat SEOUL -- North Korea has massively increased its special operations forces, schooled them in the use of Iraqi-style roadside bombs and equipped them to sneak past the heavily fortified border that divides the two Koreas. By expanding what was already the world's largest special operations force, the North appears to be adding commando teeth to what, in essence, is a defensive military strategy. The cash-strapped government of Kim Jong Il, which struggles to maintain and buy fuel for its aging tanks and armor, has concluded it cannot win a conventional war, according to U.S. and South Korean military officials. But by combining huge numbers of special forces with artillery that can devastate Seoul and missiles that can pound all of South Korea, North Korea has found an affordable way to remain terrifying, ensure regime survival and deter a preemptive strike on the nuclear bombs that make it a player on the world stage, say U.S. and South Korean military analysts. "The North Koreans have done what they had to do to make sure their military is still a credible threat," said Bruce E. Bechtol Jr., a North Korea specialist who is a professor at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico. "They can still inflict tens of thousands of civilian casualties in Seoul on the first day of combat." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 hola Chuck! Miss your comments...busy, I know Frank G |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-10-11 20:57 |
| #4 They're increasing special forces because their short buses have been delivered. Just look for the parking lot full of yellow buses, like New Orleans. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2009-10-11 20:50 |
| #3 Oh and the North's commandos are pretty badass. There was a case of a shipwrecked minisub, the commandos didn't think the crew could make it so they executed them on the beach and then dispersed to try to escape back across the border. One of them made it, the rest took weeks of noisy operations to track down and kill. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-10-11 06:53 |
| #2 The North has had hundreds of artillery tubes trained on Seoul since the 50s. Weird setup for a war, put your capital on the enemy's frontier. On the other hand, convenient for DMZ tourism. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-10-11 06:46 |
| #1 SF? My @$$. They seem more like government sponsored terrorists to me. All they have to know is how to wait until folks are looking the other way befor they rush in and plant a bomb or push a button. You don't expand SF quickly. It takes time. And if it's so cost effective, then might as well adopt their tactics and see how they feel about it. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-10-11 01:57 |