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Under the Radar: N Korean Special Forces Master Paraglider Attacks

© Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev / Go to the mediabankSoldiers during a military parade marking the 105th birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea, in Pyongyang. File photo
Soldiers during a military parade marking the 105th birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea, in Pyongyang. File photo - Sputnik International
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According to a South Korean military source, paragliders could be used for surprise nighttime attacks against the military facilities of Seoul and Washington.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency has reported about the North Korean special forces launching their first-ever paragliding infiltration drills to target the allies' command post.

Yonhap quoted a South Korean defense source as saying that the military exercises, which were conducted in mid-September, included a simulated attack on the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command with the help of paragliders.

The source expressed alarm about the drills, referring to a paraglider as something that "could be useful for making a surprise attack, like a drone," given the fact that the paraglider flies at a low altitude without making a sound.

"I believe that North Korean special forces are adopting amazing methods of infiltration with limited resources," the source said, expressing doubt that a nighttime airborne attack by the North's  paragliding troops will be duly detected by the South Korean Army's radar.

A model of the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae was specifically constructed for the drills, which included special force units from North Korea's Army, Navy and Air Force, according to the source.

Yonhap described the paraglider as an easy-to-operate light vehicle which can be carried by North Korean special forces on their backs to launch surprise attacks, including from a summit. 

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, July, 4 2017. - Sputnik International
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The news agency also quoted another South Korean defense source as saying that North Korea's paragliding infiltration drills prodded Seoul and Washington to carry out their first joint short-range air defense exercise in late September.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula deteriorated in recent months due to Pyongyang's missile launches and nuclear tests, all conducted in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

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