Countering North Korean Special Purpose Forces

By Major Troy P. Krause

As United States and Republic of Korea forces stand to defend against a DPRK attack, one of the most formidable tasks is how to counter a second front in the Joint Rear Security Area of the Republic of Korea.

North Korea has a robust and diverse special operations force capability, their ‘Special Purpose Forces.’ With nearly 104,000 soldiers committed to these daring tactics and operations, the United States and the Republic of Korea must be vigilant and innovative to protect their forces from such attacks.

The principal mission of the North Korean Special Purpose Forces is to infiltrate into the enemies rear area and conduct short duration raids. Their most dangerous avenue of approach for their forces includes amphibious approaches, airborne infiltration and the use of a vast tunnel network. How would the North carry out such an attack against such formidable foes? Will they use special operation’s type forces to disrupt the South in their rear areas? How would they move their forces into South Korea? What solutions does the United States and the Republic of Korea have to solve this problem and which one is the best?

This analysis examines the various methods the United States and the Republic of Korea will use to counter the North Korean Special Purpose Forces today and in the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tannenberg Publishing
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786253460

Major Troy P. Krause

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Text originally published in 1999 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

COUNTERING NORTH KOREAN SPECIAL PURPOSE FORCES

by

Major Troy P. Krause USA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ILLUSTRATIONS 5

TABLES 6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7

ABSTRACT 8

CHAPTER 1—THE IMPORTANCE OF COUNTERING THE NORTH KOREA SPECIAL PURPOSE FORCES THREAT 9

History 10

Geography 11

Weather 13

Population 13

Infrastructure 14

Fielded Forces 14

CHAPTER 2—NORTH KOREA’S SPECIAL PURPOSE FORCES 16

Typical Missions 16

A Word On Tunnels 17

Airborne Forces 17

Reconnaissance Brigades 18

Light Infantry 18

Maritime Special Purpose Forces 18

Stealth Ships 19

DPRK’s Submarines 19

Amphibious Light Infantry Brigades 20

CHAPTER 3—COUNTERMEASURES 21

Target Detection is the Key 21

Mines and Anti-Ship Missiles 21

Fixed Wing Attack Fighters 22

AC-130 Spectre Gunships 22

Navy Surface Combatants 23

U.S. and ROK Submarines 23

Naval Air Power 24

CHAPTER 4—JOINT REAR AREA OPERATIONS 25

Homeland Reserve Forces 25

Civil Defense Corps 25

Role of the HRF and CDC in Response to Maritime Attack 25

Base Defense 26

CHAPTER 5—AH-64 APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTERS TO THE RESCUE 27

Missions 27

Destroy the Weapon’s Platforms 27

Attacking the Maritime SOF Threat—A Joint Approach 28

Command, Control, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) 29

Battle Damage Assessment 30

Safeguards 30

Training and Equipment Issues 31

CHAPTER 6—CONCLUSION 32

GLOSSARY 33

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY 37

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. North Korea. Source: Kimsoft.com

Figure 2. South Korea. Source: Kimsoft.com

Figure 3. Aircraft Carrier laden with Army Helicopters

TABLES

Table 1. SPF Force Matrix

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing an accurate account about the conflict in Korea would be an impossible task without the help of several individuals and institutions.

I wish to thank the librarians of the Air University Library, especially Mr. Chang, for their patience and willingness to assist me with my work. I would also like to thank Richard Young, a web page administrator for United States Navy amphibious units, for his assistance in finding several texts and Internet links. I would like to acknowledge Major Tim Lolatte and Major Ike Eisenhauer for their assistance in the use of the Air University research template.

Finally, I would like to thank LTC Jeffrey Reilly (former planner on the Combined Forces Korea staff) and Major Russell Stinger (former planner for deep operations on the 8th Army staff) for their insights into the continuing Cold War over there. Having never been to Korea, their assistance in distinguishing fanciful ideas from cold reality was helpful. Their unique insights and knowledge on the North Korean military was generous and significant.

ABSTRACT

As United States and Republic of Korea forces stand to defend