"I am pretty proud to say, right now, today there are more SOF men and woman on the [Korean] Peninsula than we have had any time in the past," Votel stated.
In the past two months, North Korea has engaged in multiple long-range rocket launches and a nuclear weapons test, raising concerns in the United States and among members of the international community.
Votel noted that the Special Operations Forces presence on the Korean Peninsula has increased over the past 18 months in partnership with South Korean forces.
The United States and South Korea just launched their largest ever military exercises in the region this week.
North Korea has argued the yearly exercises posed a threat to its interests, and announced last week that it had put its nuclear weapons on high alert, ready to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike.
