Pyongyang held Seoul invasion drill in September

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

Pyongyang held Seoul invasion drill in September

Special commandos of the North Korean Army conducted drills for several days in mid-September to infiltrate the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command in Seoul by paraglider, defense officials said Tuesday.

A paraglider is easy to operate, with its equipment weighing a mere 3 to 4 kilograms (6.6 to 8.8 pounds). North Korean special commandos could carry their folded paragliders on their backs and paraglide from a summit to seize a target in a surprise attack.

It is the first time members of North Korean special commandos have carried out paragliding infiltration drills aimed at the allies’ command post.

According to the officials, North Korean paragliding soldiers participated in the drills at a training ground that has a model building of the Combined Forces Command.

It was already known that they had built a model of the South Korean presidential office, the Blue House, to conduct drills to sharpen their ability to sneak into the South.

The drills using paragliders involved several teams of special commandos from the North’s Army, Navy and Air Force, they said.

A defense source expressed the worry that the South Korean Army’s radar would hardly detect a nighttime airborne attack by North Korean paragliding soldiers, saying, “A paraglider flies at a low altitude without making a sound. It could be useful for making a surprise attack, like a drone.”

The source continued, “I believe that North Korean special commandos are adopting amazing methods of infiltration with limited resources.”

Another defense source said the North Korean drills with paragliders had prompted the South Korean and U.S. forces to conduct their joint short-range air defense drill late last month.

The exercise involved South Korea’s air defense unit and soldiers from the U.S. 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment. It was held in Pocheon, north of Seoul, with no specific date given.

This marked the first time that the allies held a combined short-range air defense training drill in South Korea.

The short-range air defense, also known as Shorad, is aimed at effectively countering inbound low-altitude aerial threats like North Korean jets, transports and helicopters.

Yonhap
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)