Donning pitch-black gear, a team of South Korean commandos calmly swarmed into an indoor training ground after blasting through the front door with a detonating cord.
The troops swiftly formed into smaller groups to clear multiple rooms and fire upon nine mock targets, neutralizing the simulated terror threat in less than two minutes.
The counterterrorism exercise took place as part of a series of special operations demonstrations for a group of reporters Thursday at the Army Special Warfare Command’s training range in Gwangju, 32 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
While the session largely centered on the unit’s counterterrorism capabilities, they included other special operations exercises, highlighting the command’s primary focus on deterring North Korean threats.
In another demonstration, six commandos jumped out of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at around 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) above the training ground, softly parachuting onto a target area to demonstrate their airborne infiltration capabilities.
Tr
oops can jump from an altitude of up to 25,000 feet, with the drops reaching speeds as fast as 60 kph, one of the command’s soldiers said, noting their gear, including the parachute, weighs about 50 kilograms.
The drills came amid renewed attention on Seoul’s deterrence capabilities in the face of growing security uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula over deepening military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty calling for mutual assistance if either is attacked as they held a summit in Pyongyang.
The pact also calls for expanding cooperation in various fields, such as space, the peaceful use of nuclear power, and science and technology, raising concerns such efforts might assist Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.
Thursday’s training underscored the role some special forces play in one of the pillars of Seoul’s “three-axis” deterrence system against the
North’s evolving nuclear and WMD threats — Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation.
The operational plan is designed to incapacitate the North’s leadership in the event of its use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction by utilizing the military’s strategic strike capabilities.
According to Seoul’s Defense White Paper, the military is seeking to expand the “all-weather” infiltration and strike capabilities of special warfare units as part of efforts to ensure KMPR capabilities.
The specific role of special forces in the KMPR has been shrouded in secrecy, with Pyongyang often reacting angrily to combined special operations exercises between South Korea and the United States.
In April, North Korea staged a simulated nuclear counterattack drill in protest against a series of joint drills between the allies, including an airborne infiltration exercise that the South described as being designed to eliminate an unspecified target.
When asked about the so-called decapitation mission, Lt. Gen. Kwak Jon
g-keun, the unit’s commander, declined to comment but noted that his troops are not training with “specific targets” in mind.
“We need to acquire a readiness posture to complete our given mission,” he said. “That is why we train and why we should acquire necessary equipment and supplies.”
Kwak emphasized the need for state-of-the-art equipment, stressing its importance to improve training and boost readiness.
Established in 1958, the Special Warfare Command has strengthened its capabilities over the decades with the introduction of new equipment and facilities to train troops in realistic scenarios.
At the Gwangju training range, the unit held aircraft hostage rescue drills, utilizing a real-size mock passenger plane, during which troops entered the aircraft to overpower a group of terrorists.
The unit operates an indoor skydiving wind tunnel to simulate high-altitude jumps at its headquarters in Icheon, 58 km southeast of the capital.
As part of efforts to further bolster airborne infiltration capabili
ties, South Korea approved a 3.7 trillion-won (US$2.66 billion) plan last year to buy special operations helicopters from overseas by 2031.
“Compared to training an infantry soldier, it is really difficult to produce one special operations personnel,” Kwak said. “My goal is to train them in the hardest way possible to make them win in combat.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency