N.Korea ‘Has 180,000 Special Forces Ready to Cross into Sout

SANTA CLAUSE SG

Chosun Ilbo, 16 June 2010

North Korea operates 40,000 special forces troops, including the 11th or “Storm” Corps whose mission is to infiltrate South Korea and create havoc in case of war. It also has around 10,000 naval special forces and around 5,000 air force soldiers who can cross the border if a war breaks out.

The figures were revealed in a speech by former South Korean commander of special operations Kim Yun-suk to fellow veterans at the War Memorial in Seoul.

Kim said the Storm Corps, which has been trained to stir up confusion behind enemy lines, is composed of four light infantry, seven airborne and three sniper brigades. And the 4th Corps special forces, stationed on the Ongjin Peninsula close to South Korea’s Baeknyeong Islands in the West Sea, consists of 600 scout troops, 600 naval reconnaissance soldiers and around 1,800 naval forces.

The North also operates a large amphibious landing force in the region similar to South Korea’s Marines. Totaling 180,000 troops, North Korea has the largest number of special ops forces in the world. The 11th Corps accounts for 22 percent with 40,000 special forces troops, and 120,000 light infantry brigades make up 66 percent of the special forces. The reconnaissance brigade, which has been fingered in the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, accounts for around 6 percent of special forces, and the Navy and Air Force each have around 5,000 crack troops, which make up 3 percent.

“Ten thousand North Korean special forces are capable of infiltrating simultaneously through underground tunnels or aboard 260 hovercraft or submarines, while 175 AN-2 transport planes and 310 helicopters can transport another 10,000 troops,” Kim said.

The former officer said the South needs to come up with measures to deal with the so-called asymmetric threat by creating a powerful special forces brigade, operating a special military branch that handles North Korea’s irregular forces and boosting the number of anti-terrorism units and training. – Chosun Ilbo

Larryteo SG

Hope they don't start a war. North Korea is a really a piece of fuck sometimes.

Fenixx SG

Hope they don't start a war. North Korea is a really a piece of fuck sometimes.

No fear..... we have Team America.......fuck yeah! Hahaha

Asromanista2001 SG

hope they invade......can't tahan Korean dramas and music anymore.............

see how many carriers they can sink...........

Shotgun SG

No fear..... we have Team America.......fuck yeah! Hahaha

Obama removed the head of "Team America" from office recently. If McChrystal was put in Korea, I don't think there would be much of the "North Korean Special Forces" remaining.

likeyou SG

Hope they wont go for war...many pple will be affected.

Arapahoe SG

Obama removed the head of "Team America" from office recently. If McChrystal was put in Korea, I don't think there would be much of the "North Korean Special Forces" remaining.

He would most likely to be hired by black water to lead black team to hunt Osama Bin Laden. There is still a 35 million reward on his head.

Arapahoe SG

Wow....27 yrs old Young General....commanding 7 million NK Soldier.

On Monday, Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, was promoted to the rank of general, a sign of the transitioning of power to the next generation that was nevertheless buried in the last paragraph of an article by state-run media.

That kind of mystery surrounds the man who is widely expected to become the secretive communist nation's next leader.

"They don't release the information, so no one can know," said Kang Cheol-hwan, a North Korea defector and activist. "When he was little, he studied in Bern (Switzerland), in a school for the elite. He got an international education."

Little else is known about Kim Jong Un. Two photos of him consistently circulate in news reports outside of North Korea. That's because he's been kept off the radar by the North.

Before Kim's promotion to general on Monday, North Korea's state-run media didn't mention him -- there were no family photos showing him as a youngster and no images of him by his father's side, learning to lead.

ditzy SG

180,000 special ops leh, biggest in the world. Really makes us look pathetic.

Vote PAP OUT to Save SG SG

Old article on DPRK military:

Special Forces

North Korea has the largest special forces, 120,000 troops, in the world.

These troops are grouped into light infantry brigades, attack brigades, air-borne brigades, and sea-born brigades - 25 brigades in total.

These troops will be tasked to attack US military installations in Korea, Japan, Okinawa and Guam.

North Korea has the capacity to transport 20,000 special force troops at the same time. North Korea has 130 high-speed landing crafts and 140 hovercrafts. A North Korean hovercraft can carry one platoon of troops at 90 km per hour. Western experts pooh-pooh North Korea's ancient AN-2 transport planes as 1948 relics, but AN-2 planes can fly low beneath US radars and deliver up to 10 troops at 160 km per hour. North Korea makes AN-2s and has about 300 in place. In addition, North Korea has hang-gliders that can carry 5-20 men each for short hops.

North Korea has developed special bikes for mountain warfare. Special forces use these bikes for fast deployments on mountains. Switzerland is the only other nation that has bike-mounted special forces trained for mountain warfare. The rugged terrains of the Korean Peninsula are ideally suited for special forces operations. North Korea's special forces will attack US targets in Japan, Okinawa, and Guam as well. Japan's self defense units are being reorganized to counter this threat.

How good are North Korea's special forces? In September 1996, a North Korean submarine was stranded near Kang-nung and the crew were forced to abandon the ship and land on South Korea. The sub had two special forces agents who had finished a mission in South Korea and were picked up by the sub before the sub ran into a rock. The two men fought off an army of South Korean troops and remained at large for 50 days, during which they killed 11 of the pursuers.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3099.htm

Calmday SG

There is no doubt that n korea is dangerous but I really can’t see them standing up to any well equipped, modern military such as ROK. In this day and age it takes a lot more than numbers to win.