N. Korea deploys new battle tanks, boosts special forces

[Casino67]

Yonhapnews.co.kr:

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has deployed new battle tanks and bolstered the size of its special forces by 20,000 over the past two years, deepening the threat of unconventional warfare against South Korea, the South's new defense white paper said Thursday.

The biennial defense paper also defined the North Korean regime and its military as the "enemy" of South Korea, a description stronger than before but short of reviving the symbolic tag of "main enemy" for the communist neighbor.

The new white paper was released as the South's military resolved to strike back hard against future provocations by the North, which last month bombarded the South's front-line island of Yeonpyeong, killing two marines and two civilians.

"Threats from North Korea's asymmetric warfare capabilities such as special forces, artillery pieces and weapons of mass destruction have been on a steady rise since 2008," Deputy Minister Chang Kwang-il told reporters.

Military officials here have said the North is increasingly focused on unconventional or "asymmetric" weapons, such as improvised explosives or low-cost missiles because the regime knows its aging conventional weapons are no match for the technologically superior South Korean and U.S. forces.

The white paper confirmed for the first time that North Korea deployed its new battle tank, called the "Pokpung-ho," which in Korean means "Storm Tiger," believed to have been developed in the 1990s based on the Soviet Union's T-72 tanks.

[Rokke]

I just can't imagine a North Korean MBT is worth much. I really can't think of anything they make. And to be a legitimate threat on today's battle field it is going to need all kinds of high tech electronics, reactive armor, a reliable engine. I don't think I'd want my life to depend on it, facing the best South Korea and the USA have to offer.