Norks deploy more missiles

BBC:

North Korea has recently completed the deployment of new medium-range missiles capable of reaching more parts of Asia, South Korea says.

The communist nation also bolstered its special forces and its navy, a Ministry of Defence white paper said.

North Korea and its 1.19 million troops constituted a "direct and serious threat", the report said.

The white paper comes amid speculation that Pyongyang could be planning to test-fire a new long-range missile.

It also comes amid heightened tension between the two Koreas, over South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak's decision to link economic aid to progress on denuclearisation.

Observers believe Pyongyang could test-fire its Taepodong-2 missile in a bid to improve its bargaining power with the new US administration over the stalled aid-for-disarmament deal.

...

According to the white paper, the new medium-range missiles can travel up to 3,000km (1,860 miles) - putting much of North and South East Asia within range - and carry a warhead of up to 650kg (1,430lb).

The report, which is issued every two years, did not say how many of the missiles had been deployed.

But it said North Korea had also reinforced its navy by bolstering its submarines.

The overall size of the military had grown by 20,000, it said, and the number of special forces troops - lightly-equipped soldiers trained to infiltrate the South - went up by a third to 180,000.

"Their aim appears to blur the line between friend and foe once a conflict erupts," Yonhap news agency quoted Shin Won-Sik, the defence ministry's deputy of policy planning, as saying.

...

Their special forces infiltration capability may be more worrisome than their missiles. The South Koreans should be wary of really skinny guys showing up in South Korean uniforms.

There is no indication that the North Koreans have mastered precision attacks. That is why they probably have a lot of redundancy in their weapons stock.

The belligerence of the North Koreans seems based on a combination of paranoia and a weird belief that others would like to occupy their pathetic country. The fact is that no one including South Korea wants to take over the mess the Nork commies have made. It would be n incredible money pit for only who tried to revive it.