北韓公佈軍演畫面，不一樣的是出現以特種部隊樣貌進行演練，橡皮艇搶灘、夜視鏡、特戰裝備等出現，北韓似乎有「高人」指點戰略方向，雖然特戰裝備等級「初生之犢」但提升了軍人訓練素質，更不要說北韓本身擁有近20萬的特種作戰部隊
North Korean Special Forces Simulate a Rapid Assault Against and Capture of an Enemy Island in Response to US-South Korean War Games
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and many of the county's military leaders supervised special forces exercises supported by artillery. The drills involved a barrage on simulated enemy positions from the air and from artillery units followed by rapid landings of special forces personnel by sea and air to capture enemy positions and neutralize remaining hostile forces. North Korea's military often holds military exercises to demonstrate the country's readiness for war in response to joint US-South Korean military drills, and these exercises come amidst America's Freedom Guardian military exercises taking place from August 21st to 31st. The country's new special forces uniforms and equipment were recently unveiled in a military parade on April 15th 2017 and several units appear to already have been outfitted with state of the art combat armor, night vision optics and grenade launchers.
North Korea's special forces remain among its primary military assets, and are the world's largest special operations force at 180,000 personnel. The units have shown themselves to be highly capable with elite training standards, as demonstrated in the 1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident when three members of the North Korean special forces became stranded in South Korea. These personnel managed to evade forces of tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers searching for them for 49 days. By the time two of them were finally found and killed they had killed twelve South Korean soldiers and caused twenty seven more military casualties. The remaining operative was never captured and is assumed to have successfully returned to North Korea. Should a war break out and North Korea be able to deploy these forces in large numbers behind enemy lines, be they Japan, South Korea or Pacific nations hosting US military forces, they will almost certainly wreak havoc far beyond what North Korean missile forces and artillery alone could achieve.
By testing the offensive capabilities of its special operations forces North Korea is signaling to its potential adversaries that should they attempt to start war the country's retaliation will come in the form of not only missile strikes and artillery - but also of the deployment of 180,000 elite forces capable of infiltration and sabotage. Should these units successfully manage to open up second fronts behind enemy lines, the result will be significant destruction and chaos which will significantly undermine the war efforts of North Korea's adversaries. Should North Korea's special forces be able to strike key civilian and military infrastructure, they could well have a significant impact on the outcome of a war on the Korean Peninsula and ultimately force the United States and their allies onto a defensive in a way not seen since the Vietcong's Tet Offensive in 1968. Indeed, considering that the first phase of the Tet offensive was carried out with just 80,000 regular Vietcong personnel, infiltration by 180,000 elite North Korean forces against the far more complex and vulnerable infrastructure of modern South Korea and Japan, relative to that of South Vietnam, would cause destruction on a scale orders of magnitude greater than the Tet offensive ever did.
Shown below: New North Korean Special Forces Equipment and Uniforms Unveiled During April 15th 2017 Military Parade; North Korean Special Forces Conduct Landings By Sea (x2); North Korean Artillery Barrage Against Simulated Enemy Positions (x2); North Korean Special Forces Conduct Landings By Air; North Korean Special Forces Conduct Landings By Sea (x4).
