North Korea publicly unveiled their special operations unit for the first time during a military parade honoring the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.
The North Korean special operations forces marched across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang behind the Navy, Air Force, and other military forces. The new unit is believed to be led by North Korean Col. Gen. Kim Yong-bok.
The Yonhap News Agency reported on the appearance of a new special operations unit during the military parade, likely intended as a display of strength meant to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from taking any military action against the nuclear-ambitious country.
“Once Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un issues an order, they will charge with resolve to thrust a sword through the enemy’s heart like lightning over Mt. Paektu,” proclaimed the proud parade broadcast announcer while referencing the Korean peninsula’s tallest peak.
While the world was watching the birthday parade many media outlets took notice of the ominous special forces soldiers and what are believed to be new medium-to-long-range missiles, but something else was also caught the attention of at least one news agency. At first glance the fearsome appearance of the special operations unit might strike fear into the hearts of their enemy, but, as reported by the Conservative Tribune:
Much of the equipment the “highly trained” soldiers toted were outdated designs left over from the Soviet era, such as the dual-lens night-vision goggles that destroy depth perception or the North Korean-produced AK-74 knockoff rifles that have terrible ballistics and are inferior to just about anything U.S. troops are using.
On top of that, or should I say mounted underneath the rifles (tied on with paracord no less), are special tubular magazines produced by the North Koreans known as helical magazines, according to Ares Armament Research Services (which have been misidentified by many outlets as grenade launchers).The high-capacity magazines, originally produced solely for Kim’s personal contingent of bodyguards, are all but worthless in a real fight as they are extremely difficult to reload — particularly under the stress of combat — and are notorious for jamming repeatedly.
The next humiliating detail is the fact that the special operations soldiers appear to be equipped with chest-mounted holstered sidearms that appear to be more than 40 years old, most likely CZ 75 semi-automatic pistols produced in then-Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.
Those holstered pistols were attached to tactical vests in a copycat variation of the U.S. Army’s light-green digital-style camouflage, which don’t match the woodland camo-style uniforms the troops were wearing, which also didn’t match the apparently hastily spray-painted helmets, nor the hilariously misapplied Party City-style black and green face paint worn by the soldiers.
Kim Jong Un most likely was looking to intimidate President Trump into leaving him alone to continue developing nuclear missiles, but he instead has only served to humiliate himself, his military and his isolated nation by parading around a purported special operations unit that could have been mostly outfitted online via eBay, Amazon and the Cheaper Than Dirt catalog.”
H/T to: The Daily Caller, U.K. Daily Mail, Conservative Tribune