(Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receives applause as he guides the multiple-rocket launching
drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated photo released by
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 24, 2014.
North Korea's nuclear capabilities and ambitions often make headlines, but recently they have focused more on building national strength in more conventional, yet equally threatening ways.
Last month, for the first time in decades, North Korea opened their doors to outsiders for the North Korea Workers Party Congress. At this Congress, the idea of Kim Jong Un's "byungjin," or a two-sided push towards economic and nuclear development was discussed.
As Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, explained: “Lots of people say that if they have a nuclear deterrent, they won’t need conventional weapons... But under the Kim Jong Un era, there has been a big increase in spending on the economic and conventional military side,” The Washington Post notes.
Using satellite imagery, one of the few windows into the secretive nation, Melvin claims to have spotted construction indicating that a railway was coming to the Korean People’s Army naval base and the shipyard at Wonsan.
According to North Korean media, Kim Jung Un has commented that the naval base would be useful for bolstering the economy.
(Reuters/KCNA)
North Korean soldiers attend military training in an undisclosed location in this picture
released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang March 19, 2013.
Against these low-tech weapons, advanced defenses like the patriot missile defense system and possible deployment of the THAAD system meant to guard against ballistic missiles are of little use.
Joseph S. Bermudez, an expert on North Korea’s military, told the Washington Post: “I get a sense that when Kim Jong Un came to power, he looked around and said, ‘We have all these old guys running things who haven’t been in the field for 15 or 20 years. We need people who know what they’re talking about.’ ”
“Before, you had leaders of special forces who couldn’t run a mile. Now, we see artillery division commanders that actually have an artillery background,” Bermudez continued.
(Lee Jin-man/AP)
South Korean Marine, right and US Marines aim their weapon near amphibious assault vehicles during the US-South Korea joint landing military exercises as a part of the annual joint military exercise Foal Eagle between South Korea and the United States in Pohang, south of Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2015.
The North Korean dictatorship claims to have a military that is 1.2 million strong with an "unlimited reach" from government to conscript citizens into service.
The threat from North Korea's conventional forces, and nuclear forces, have triggered nations around the world to tighten sanctions against the rogue nation, and the US to engage in vigorous military exercises with South Korea, should the need for decisive action arise.
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Mobile