By Dan Lamothe
North Korean special forces soldiers march during a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15. (Reuters)
Dozens of Special Operations troops marched in North Korea’s military parade this month, covered from head to toe in green, brown and black camouflage. Carrying variants of the Kalashnikov rifle with high-capacity “helical” magazines, they shouted slogans in support of Kim Jong Un, seemingly delighting the North Korean leader as he watched.The scene underscored a long-held understanding about Pyongyang’s military: Special Operations troops have an outsize role. An assessment of those forces will likely come up Wednesday when the Trump administration hosts an unusual White House briefing for lawmakers about North Korea’s military capabilities, as Washington pressures Pyongyang to halt its advancing nuclear weapons program.

[To counter North Korea, admiral says the U.S. should consider adding ballistic missile interceptors in Hawaii]

In the past few years, national security analysts and senior defense officials have suggested that it may not be North Korea’s ballistic missiles or artillery that are used to launch a large-scale attack on South Korea or U.S. installations, but North Korean commandos potentially armed with chemical or biological weapons.

The Pentagon also last year realigned its efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction under U.S. Special Operations Command, rather than U.S. Strategic Command, which has other missions that range from space operations to missile defense. A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said at the time that he considered the situation with North Korea very uncertain and that defense officials were preparing contingency plans.

North Korean Special Operations troops have been involved in some of the country’s most notorious military operations over the past few decades. They include a 1968 raid on South Korea’s capital of Seoul that led to fatalities on both sides and a 1996 incident in which a North Korean reconnaissance submarine ran aground in South Korean waters, prompting a manhunt, firefights and an eventual statement of regret from Pyongyang…..More Here