Special Operators: KPA Special Operations Forces, North Korea.
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- Опубліковано 9 січ 2024
- Unveiling North Korea's Most Mysterious Forces: The Special Operations Forces. Explore their secretive history, formidable capabilities, and potential threats to South Korea. Are they a true force to be reckoned with? Find out now!
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There's nothing "special" about a 200,000 strong special forces, other than the fact that they actually get fed. 😂
Really? How about the United States Marine Corps? Nothing special? Too large?
@@FrugalPCOGThe USMC has a history almost as old as the US founding and have been in more wars. Also the USMC are not SOF. However SOCOM, Which is a branch of the USMC are SOF and are tier 3 operators.
Socom isn’t a part of the marine corps. Lol they actually have a budget. They also have tier 1 units devgru and CAG are both tier 1. Socom also has all military branches
@@FrugalPCOGthey’re another branch that focus amphibious warfare but they do have marsoc
@@TheHabsification what I was referring to was the size of the organization being too large to be effective. first of all, those numbers are broken down into much smaller specialized units that can indeed be highly effective. The story went on to say that units are completely on their own and may spend long deployments on their own living off the land is my guess. If they are adequately armed and living in the bush without supply lines.. you don't want to wander through their deployment area as a recent call up, trained or not. They will kill a lot of green GIs.
I saw an interview with a former North Korean special forces operator. He said in 10 years he only fired his weapon 2 times. A single round each time. He missed the target both times. 😂
The Blue House Raid would force South Korea to retaliate in kind by forming their own black ops unit with the expressed mission to assassinate then North Korean leader Kim Il Sun. This unit, being made up of 31 prisoners on death row was known better as Unit 684. It was basically South Korea's very own Suicide Squad or Dirty Dozen. The members of this unit underwent brutal training on the island of Silmido where at least two of them died. In 1971, after three years of preparation, the members of Unit 684 were ready to undergo their stated mission, however by then relations improved between North and South Korea, so the operation to assassinate Kim Il Sun was cancelled. This did not go over well with the members of Unit 684, who then mutinied. They would end up engaging in a firefight in Seoul against South Korean soldiers and police officers, which ended with all but four of the original thirty one members killed. The remaining four survivors were captured and tried in a secret a military tribunal, where all of them were sentenced to death. This event would later be adapted into a film known as Silmido, that was released in 2003.
Silmildo is a great movie!
All you would need to do, is offer them food. My dad fought in the Korean war. He told me so many laid down thier weapons for food. It was a terrible trench war.
I suspect this may be accurate for the rest of the military but the SOF do eat well enough to develop strong bodies for years as well as be mentally hardened against this specific thing. I think of wolves that might go for weeks without food but then still not fall prey to a trap with food in it if it smells like human
@@calebbearup4282 I agree. But that 10,000 that are fed and taken care of will not win you a war.
Have you seen the photo of the height comparison between an American Soldier and South Korean Soldier and the North Korean Soldier? The North Korean Soldier were smaller than the other two.
I find the amount of “best fed” “well fed” comments hilarious because we know it’s soooo true.
The effectiveness of a military is typically inversely proportional to the number of medals on its Generals uniforms.
I guess the Taliban must be ultra super effective.
@@PrimericanIdol they did unironically hold off Russia and US for decades, although I would say its less effectiveness and more persistence than anything
I guess that unfortunately they are. They beat the Soviets and they beat the US. Apparently ignorance and belief in superstitious nonsense is no hindrance to military achievement @PrimericanIdol
@@PrimericanIdol The Talib aren't a military. They're a Pashtun-dominated grouping of tribesmen. There is no "beating" the Talib unless you conduct an ethnic cleansing of Afghanistan, which the Soviets were in the process of doing. The only reason the Talib "win" in the end is that nothing they're fighting over is worth the cost of fighting over to anyone but them.
@free_at_last8141 I've tried to explain this to people, and they just come back with the same old "haha Americans can't even beat goat farmers" tripe. They simply don't understand nor do they want to
The amount of content you’re putting out can’t be healthy… but I appreciate it greatly 😂
Little known fact, which I learned from a Mark Felton Productions video about this:
There was a second, less well known, albeit much smaller, Korean "war", that occurred from 1966-1969. Because of the VASTLY smaller scale, instead of being known as the "Second Korean War", it's generally referred to as the "Korean DMZ Conflict".
They are currently still at war with each other.
For those wondering these forces do have some combat experience. They’re used by the regime as a form of diplomacy and in exchange those units get experience that they take home. One example is when they made a small appearance in the Syrian Civil War assisting the Assad Regimes forces against the rebels. They’re also the ones the DPRK was offering to send to Russia to assist in the Ukrainian war.
imagine a battle where NK special forces are tougher than you..
who have they been deployed against?
where is their battle record?
i know the Chinese turned tail and ran in Syria..
cant imagine these underfed by everyone elses standards underweight buffoons did anything useful either..
Interesting
LOL the DPRK mercs?
the Chinese who are far better trained and equipped ran like dogs in Syria when they got shot at..
how formidable will 120lb under fed under led under trained under equipped DPRK mercs be?
who are they taking on? a peewee league hockey team?
I think that in the early days of Zimbabwe, North Korean advisers trained Mugabe's Fifth Brigade but it was used for internal security.
I think I saw one holding a "Will Work for Food" sign.
For the love of god please fix the audio sharpness on your “S” sounds. It’s piercing
I used low volume, high volume, loudspeakers, earphones... I cant seem to reproduce the reason for this comment?! Maybe give the creator some details about your sound setup..
@@vaterunser3879open your ears
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this.
Stop bitching jesus christ. It’s free! Entitled
Sounds like high-gain peaking to me.
I don't want to underestimate any group of suppossed highly trained soldiers...but if you have to mention "best fed" to describe your special forces it kills any mystique they may have. Sounds like they will be demoralized and captured by their first encounter with any all-you-can-eat buffet.
I'm reminded of how native American fighters would sometimes go days without any more food than a bit of jerky and run on foot then still be the fiercest fighters anyone could imagine. Just because they aren't well fed doesn't mean they can't be insanely problematic during combat
@calebbearup4282 to be fair back then the natives didn't have to worry about an AC-130 and the likes
Simon needs an app linking all his channels with notifications. But then my phone would never stop!
😂
Sir, that is a business opportunity right there
It's easy to dismiss North Korea as poor and not a threat, but they put an insane amount of their budget into their army. They don't have much, but they make sure what they do get goes straight into the military or Kim's belly.
Kim's alternate name is Muk Bang Chow
A lot of their equipment is antiquated though. And just how well is it being maintained? Also, supposedly their military is half starved
@@daveanderson3805 bruh Russia is successfully holding the line and they're literally bringing WWII era tanks and throwing them against the line
Tho this is only possible because of mutual denial of air superiority - if Ukraine controlled the skies they could do attritional warfare from the air and manoeuvre warfare on the ground instead of trying to do both by ground.
Point being, it doesn't really matter if equipment is outdated. A sword is outdated but it can still kill you.
@@hieronymusbutts7349Sure? But when you put a rusty sword against modern armament, the killing becomes very one-sided. The reason the US doesn’t outright run over North Korea is because of the artillery they have pointed at civilian populations in the South. It is estimated that 6000 pieces are currently serving that very purpose. Do you know the kind of collateral damage that carries with it? The reason the North has held on so long isn’t because they are powerful, but because they are evil (and will sink to whatever low they have to to stay in power).
When you're broke, hungry and desperate you're at your most dangerous. Then add on top of that a large number of these people truly believe we are a great threat to them.
1:35 - Chapter 1 - Formation & history
9:50 - Chapter 2 - Modus operandi
15:30 - Chapter 3 - Enduring questions
Wish they divided the vids in chapters like a lot of channels now do. Thank you for the timestamps 👍
After seeing the Special Forces series, please do feature the one on the Philippines' Special Forces, especially on the First Scout Ranger Regiment, NAVSOG, or the Light Reaction Regiment. I do want to hear your summarization of the details
Add also the Special Forces Regiment, that's the Philippines counterpart to USA's Green Beret.
It's 4am in Queensland Australia I got up just to watch this 😅 looks like we're set for a productive 24hrs
Wakey wakey then.
7:33 pm yesterday for you where I am at, lol.
@@marilynlucero9363 back to the future with me!
@@rebeccafree9755 I'll try to catch up, no promisses!
Considering how North Korean citizens is sort of rented out to foreign powers as workforces by their government (lumberjacking in Russia and coal mining in China to name two examples) it isn't completely far-fetched to think that also NK elite forces are rented out to various entities as security personel and/or mercenaries. At any rate, even if NK as a nation haven't been actively fighting a war these last 60-70 years, I think there is plenty of combat experience to share in their ranks.
I wonder how many are getting "special training" in the Ukraine invasion...
Would putin use THEM as cannon fodder?
Good points suprised the ukrainians havent come across them . Theres also alot of workers in the middle east doing donkey work for hard currency too
I read an article recently that interviewed women trafficked in China, lured there with work promises. Sadly the Chinese government last year put in place certain laws that make it harder to help these women in China (there were networks of Chinese and Korean expats set up to help women. Now it’s basically illegal to help as an extra-government entity, and like many issues for women the government doesn’t give a shit or actively represses them).
in other industry too, the Vie documentary series of NK labor in Russia was WILD
well, except there's no evidence of that occurring.
Amazing video! Can you explore the South korean special forces, too?
I served on the DMZ in the US Army in the mid 1980's, NKPA has always been volatile, elite or otherwise, it wasnt a joke then, isnt now, there is alot of unreported incdences to this day
Misuse of commas.
@@AwesomeHairo Im checking my watch, yup, still not give shit hour, Thank You, and You're Welcome
Where in Korea ? I was at Garry Owen.
Hey did y'all make fun of the slogans we had to say?
I can't remember the unit, but when the bus stopped at this particular camp, a soldier would get on the bus, salute, and say:
"Stands alone ! "
And some of us would reply :
"Sleeps together !"
Hehehehehe
Btw, welcome home.
@@enriquehartmann8642 Hovey, 85-87, rotated up to Tent City three times, 1/23 Tomahawks we transitioned 86 to 1/503 First Rock, was you in the 4/7 Cav? Hovey had three major units one MI and the other being 38th Inf transitioned 2/503, I was Leg Infantry, Mortars, shadowed alot in and out on missions through kitty hwk, Patrol phase QRF and GP phases, we rested on 4th week
@@ott1887 yup 4/7 cav. i was there from mar'01 to mar'02.....a little after you were there. lol
I think for me the question would be has the SOF been allowed to 'fail' in drills and war games. If the answer is yes, and then the lessons reflected on, then yes it could be a very dangerous force. If no, and the 'correct' result desired at all times, much like the IJN war games prior to battles like Midway, then it could be a paper tiger force. There is also the question of peacetime theories not holding up to war time realities, something which happens repeatedly throughout history and Russia is currently experiencing in Ukraine. Obviously there's no way of knowing and to be honest, if it stayed that way it means war doesn't break out in Korea, which is a good thing.
Superb video, very informative and eye opening indeed.
Thanks for sharing.
US SOCom isn't the most effective low drag high speed collection of people only because those people get the best training in CQB, SERE, REC, HR, DA, so on and so on, but most importantly because of what kind of support they get.
While the NK SF might have very harsh training, if they cant get adequate intel, leadership, equipment, CAS, CASEVAC, ISR, QRF, so on and ao on, then they are more or less useless.
BINGO!!
if being savage was all it took to be special forces HAMAS would be special forces, and clearly they are not..
🎯🎯💯 thank you!! The North Koreans will be playing this on state TV to their public like it was their own propaganda, except it came from someone in the west. So that'll give them an even bigger self-esteem boost & make em think all the suffering Kim & his family cause is worth it. How sad
Helpful information.
Thanks!
I like their tactical snorkels at 8:42
There is also an inverse relationship between the size of a special forces unit to its individual ability. If utilizing US echelons, Tier 2, 1 and Tier 0 exist. The higher up the totem pole you the smaller the number of soldiers there are. Delta/Green Beret to Rangers for example.
Pardon my lack of enthusiasm that KPA SOF is a major threat with over 200K. I’d consider them an equivalent to a Revolutionary Guard from Iraq. Fanatic Loyalists with better equipment than regulars.
I also laugh about eastern militaries who constantly show videos of martial arts. We teach combatives in the US, but it’s grapple focused as most combat in modern warfare equates to ranges of about 100-300 meters. Higher end for Insurgency, closer in for Ukraine’s current predicament.
Granted any nation who does propaganda videos of their soldiers being “tough” in snow probably means they’re not actually training😂
This topic resulted in tons of comments that generated a treasure trove of highly factual and generally unknown stories about the Koreas.
Simon's writers have a laundry list of possible follow ons.
Great stuff.
It helps to be able to operate and train outside of a country the size of one US state. Additionally their military is super top down driven. I have a feeling they would be gasping for breath in an evolving environment outside the contours of their country. I also think they would not blend in as well in the south as they would like to think.
This is an information Rich report that has top anything I have ever seen before
14:46 even if canvas and wood were somehow invisible to radar, the engine and fuel tanks certainly aren’t
NK is vying to win ww2 using ww2 tactics...
*HE HE*
no one tell them...
yes, but North Korea's planes like the Antonov An-2 transport for airborne SOF show up on radar as geese their less reflective material. Their slow speed may also cause some radars to eliminate it from the track as background noise.
@@alexjeon2180 who told you they show up as geese?
certainly no REWRS operator or AAM battery specialist told you that..
The way "AI" images are used here creates the impression that they depict the "reality" of North Korean troops.
I look at them and at first think "Ahh, thats how they & their uniform look". I think I get a feel for them. Then I see its computer-generates and have the remove that false impression of reality from my mind.
It is misinformation and trickery to "enhance" the video, but it only makes it feel cheap.
Anyone interested in this topic, and the armed forces of north korea in general, i HIGHLY recommend the book that came out in 2023: The Armed forces of North korea : The path of Songun by Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans (or the guys behind the Oryx Blog)
2:13
"North Korea started making trouble in the..."
*please say neighborhood please say neighborhood please say neighborhood*
"...demilitarized zone"
*awww 😔*
Really says something when you’re lying to your own special forces.
lying to a whole population for 100 years
Every government ever
👆 This guy knows
@@thelogicalcaveman9139 I don’t mean in a philosophical way. I mean in a very real practical sense, to the point that it actually hinders there performance.
@@aldraone-mu5yg so do I lol. Our government lied to troops, Americans, and SF dudes many times. It even sent them into missions that weren’t possible. It also put troops in extremely bad spots in PB in areas we didn’t belong and got people killed. Don’t think our government is honest with us lol
One of the crew of the USS Pueblo talked at our high school graduation. It wasn't until I was older that I understood what that was all about.
For those interested in this special topic who also enjoy movies about it, there's a really well made South Korean movie SHIRI, made in 1999 about this very topic.
This was the very first South Korean "high budget" Hollywood-type movie from South Korea.(~$10M budget, for Korean moving making, back in the late 1990s... was like today's $150M - $200M Hollywood movie budgets.)
It was so new, as a genre, for modern South Korean movie-making, in fact, that the director said they had to RENT the guns and other "special ops" military gear from some American movie making company.
Some of South Koreans actresses & actors who would go on to become household names in South Korea and in Asian movies... got their start in SHIRI. Choi Min-sik being one of those, who played the senior commander from the special ops from the North. His ranting speech, once he's cornered, with noway out, about the corrupted South Koreans & their kids getting obese from eating American hamburgers, leaving his North Korea comrades & people in starvation mode, searching for & eating edible barks and grasses... was exceptionally moving, as far as memorable cinematic speeches go...
The movie revolved around the romance of a special forces officer ("sleeper cell" agent) from the North (South Korea/American-born actress Kim Yun-jin, from TV series LOST) and a federal police detective Han Suk-kyu
It had extreme violence, well choreography, well written monologues, political thrills, romance, tragedies, and all the ingredients made for good Hollywood type movies...
That Movie sounds like an awesome watch actually.
sure to watch it.
havent seen a eastern asian movie of this type. tnx
We always joked, if you have seen a parachute in the DRPK, you're Special Forces.
How to tell them apart from the average soldier….. they’re slightly better fed
I hadn’t noticed until now!! Thanks for that!! Hahaha
Can you please do a video on South Africa's Recces forces as well as Rhodesian fire force tactics
Yes please
Why?
@@user-iz7ky7vx1uOne of the most effective and efficient by resource counterinsurgency forces in the 1960s to 1990s were the Rhodesian military and the South African military
@@user-iz7ky7vx1u it'd be one of the most interesting looks at counter insurgency forces
Oh okay cool. Not familiar with that but sounds very interesting
They have so much experience crossing the border. That’s about all the combat they have seen.
Yeah boy!! Snap, I'm never this early! Let's hear it, Si!
Simon come back to the biography please 🙏🏿
"Best fed," Hahaha!
Would love a segment on DSI, frim the Netherlands
Welp, since its EXACTLY 20% of their troops, im going to say they arent that special. Nor was their training. Just more. Which is likely less than our bottom 20%.
Wow! Someone might actually see my comment on a Simon video! 🤞
I did!
Someone might see this one too 😎
Do a video on marsoc
Please do the expedition of the thousand
You should do a video talking about Blackwater
Also love your content
Neat.
Their martial arts will be on high level
LOL no..
So monkey bars and punching bricks is considered “special” forces. I think special is used in the wrong sense of the word
Wow! Just wow.
Is there a correlation between dictators and whether an army goose steps?
I like the audio
I've never been this early
I couldn’t understand or really comprehend what he means by extended stays south of the DMZ and then something about their leaders. Could someone who understands clarify please?
Was this released on April 1st?
I mean if you have 200k of people in a country of that population, are they actually " special"?
Maybe there are a couple of really capable units numbering 1000-2000 within the whole force.
Ahhh I didn’t really hear it but dang I do now!!!
The thing is… DPRK can’t even get one victory for special forces.
Quantity has a quality all its own
I saw this thumb nail and started laughing out loud.
Pretty sure these guys wouldn't even be a speed bump to the USMC
Your sound guy needs to turn down the 8k or 16k slider on the eq. Please.
When “ best fed “ is a statistic to quantify an enemy military unit then I’m not actually worried about it
Any chance you can do a vid of what's occurring in the Red Sea?
They've been covering it in the weekly Situation Room updates
@@markdturnock ah ok, I'll take a look, I'm newish to this channel....
Omgosh. My ears are burning w those esses.
These guys are super dangerous ...if you're Bond villain henchmen attacking them one at a time, hand to hand, and die instantly after being thrown.
How did I get here this early
7:07
I think you meant Korea there instead of China 😂
The story of the Blue House survivior is a truly interesting story. Its here on youtube..
I would say, the fight would be difficult on full scale. But when talking about a military, the more emphasis thats put on how well they eat, the less they are to be taken seriously. They eat well, our special operators eat everything because they need to be able to eat anything and everything
17:30 Not even their chains work haha
There was an episode of deadliest warrior that profiled North Korean Special Forces against the Green Berets.
@ 8:35 slow down the speed of video to 0.25x and it sounds sooo hilarious i almost hyperventilated from laughing so hard 🤣 i went to see the snow covered soldiers in slow motion and heard some of the funniest sounding audio i’ve ever came across. whoever sees this, you’re welcome!!! ☠️
We also believed the Russian military was a large behemoth, but it was a flop.
I think experience and technology is what counts.
The DPRK wouldn't stand a chance against South Korea and the United States.
The nazis believed the soviet military was a flop because of the winter war too. "We just have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will tumble down."
4 years later the soviet flag was flying over the reichstag.
All I'm saying is it's better to overestimate your enemies than underestimate them.
I can remember reading years ago...like in the 80s...there are units in the NK that do nothing but practice taking a particular bridge, a roadway intersection, a river crossing. All each of those units does is spend the entire year training to take a specific target, and that's it. Each unit is expected to pretty much be decimated taking and holding that target until a regular NK army unit can arrive to pass through it.
The video was very educational. Thank you for delivering such high quality analysis of military operations throughout the world. I have a request. Can you please make a video regarding the war between Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE that spanned for more than 30 years? Would like to see a detailed analysis on the matter and with your expertise, it is bound to be a good documentary. Thanks again. Long time fan 🤟
Saying that North Korea has special forces is like saying WNBA players can beat NBA players in basketball, it's just not real.
Remember when we thought Russia had the 2nd strongest military in the world?….
15:29 these AK's look very strange
The Number of Audiophiles that follow Simons channels is bewildering.. At least i know im in the right place.
Hes in a basic home office, go easy folks. I dont even see any acoustic foam, set the standards a little lower and enjoy the content imo.
Special operations are made possible by many elements, but one crucial aspect is initiative. Initiative, loosely defined here as the ability to independently assess, initiate and accomplish complex things in imaginative and creative ways, is an aspect that simply can not be adequately cultivated within an oppressive, fear riddled, thought crushing, one dimensional universe. North Korea will never be able to aquire, nor maintain a truly elite force because their political system prevents and punishes free thought, imagination and the ability to question things. All important elements of initiative. Without initiative, special operations are simply not possible.
Usually the value of SF troops is viewed as "quality over quantity". North Korea might actually have both quality and quantity in its SF operators. That's a scary proposition
That’s if it’s true.
God I love this channel
God Is Love
@@SuperGreatSphinx Which god? Over 300 currently beong worshiped across the globe.
@@archstanton6102
God The Father
God The Son
God The Holy Spirit
@SuperGreatSphinx Oh right that one. If only there was some actual evidence to prove there was a god. Sadly for the world, they are all made up leading to all the religious wars.
An epic N. Korean Bollywood production!
Major problems when two adversaries share the same homeland and language, the North could flood the South with special forces over time, prior to a major attack. Scary stuff.
I don't know much about ROK's intelligence agencies (potentially a good topic there), but I imagine there is substantial counterintelligence on DPRK's SOF.
Something really similar was said about Wagner, and here we are. Everyone is a pro until the first kamikaz3 dr0ne arrives.
Wagner single handedly won the battle of bakhmut. That's pretty good for a 30,000 troop force distributed across the whole front line.
Can't wait for tne N Korea trolls. They just appeared on Mark Felton's channel after he covered the country.
All with channels less than 18 months old, all commenting for 1st time on the channel and most with user names like Barry and Glenn.
11:06 I have to disagree. Having had no operational experience is a major deficit, that cannot be made up for by training and planning alone.
I don't think I will lose any sleep.
One thing going for them is that they are well used to operating for extended periods on a borderline starvation diet, while freezing their arses off and being brutalized to an insane degree. However to be classed as SF you have to be Tier 1. As in training and efficacy even with little to no combat experience.
I served with an ex-Spetznaz SGT in the Australian Army and picked his brains a lot about their training etc. The Spetznaz are definitely hard as nails but no match for other Tier 1 forces in the world such as the various SAS forces, British SBS, Commandos, or the US Special Forces.
And the Spetznaz actually have a lot of combat experience. What chance would these guys have? Probably not much of one.
okay buddy, keep living in your fantasy, the arduous march ended decades ago, they're not starving to death, get over it.
@@redpipola Did I say "starving to death"? Don't put words in my mouth. What "fantasy"? Have you ever served in any capacity whatsoever- especially Arms Corps? If you have you would understand what I have said comes from actual experience man. Not keyboard warrior echo-chambers😉
@@jessebell1930 As a matter of fact, yes I serve in the armed forces and still do, 11B, U.S Army. You can spew out BS because “muh experience” but it doesn’t reflect reality, and that is, we know absolutely nothing about the DPRK and its armed forces, how they’re managed, their logistics, and of course, if they’re fed or not. Spoiler alert, it’s safe to say they are-the DPRK is food insecure, NOT starving, big difference. For an army its size, it needs to maintain some sort of food chain that allows them to feed their soldiers so they can actually do their jobs, this is considering that most regular grunts in the DPRK do manual labor, and therefore require a high calorie intake to maintain readiness. You said ‘borderline starvation diet’ but starvation implies they’re dying, in which they’re not, and it’s far beyond such assumption. Unit readiness for the DPRK is also highly dependent on their station, the closer they are to the capital, the better equipped-units further north are usually less funded than those found further South near the border, as more of the resources is used to maintain a projection of power against its adversary, the ROK. The DPRK is by no means an agricultural country, as most of their arable land is near the flatland besides mountains which make up a good chunk of the country, but they do get large amounts of grains from China, or feed themselves through the vast black market network for which the government turns a blind eye (as the black market helps with the economy too.) but my no means are they just ‘starving’ or ‘borderline starving.’
@@redpipola Thank you for your service. I was 2 RAR (2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) i.e. Infantry. Joined the Army November '03 and discharged July '13. Trained with and deployed with US personnel (mostly USMC). Got along with them well. Nice essay basically arguing semantics mate. Are you going to actually state your point clearly regarding what you are trying to say? Because some of said essay is backing up my original comment, and other parts dispute it. State clearly please exactly what the purpose of your replies are.
Wow the NK miltary has a lot of tanks, you know who else had a lot of tanks...Saddam Hussein (6000 Tanks 4000 APC's 3200 Artillery pieces )...That didn't go well for him.
As somebody who has actually seen the ' Highway of Death ' near the Kuwait / Iraq border.....All I can say is, air Superiority and Technology will always dominate number of units
Army succses comes down to the motivation of the soldiers in the end. Most of Iraqi solidiers were Shia and Kurds who didn't want to fight. I guess so would be with North Korea if they weren't brainwashed.
It's ironic talking about the capabilities of North Korea when it was in that very conflict that the US and its allies demonstrated to the world, and to any possible future adversary, how to prevail against it in a conflict. Namely - drag it out until we lose our interest and/or will to fight.
From the NVA and the Viet Cong to the middle east to Yugoslavia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and now to the fields of Ukraine, the adversaries of the west have been following this formula successfully.
What this could be called is identifying our weakness and exploiting it. That weakness being our civilian population which doesn't have the stomach for any war which either costs too much or drags on too long. I would predict that NK's special forces are trained in tasks which would follow this same blueprint.
Unable to prevail in a head-on matchup with either SK or the USA, they would instead concentrate their efforts on operations designed to deplete our ranks of troops and stockpiles of ordinance, degrade our capabilities, wear down our morale and resolve, sow doubt and discord amongst our allies by way of propaganda and other means and ultimately drive the cost of battle so high in money, material and lives that we give up.
200000 special force members, that seems like an awful high number.