"Threats from North Korea’s asymmetric warfare capabilities such as special forces, artillery pieces and weapons of mass destruction have been rising steadily since 2008."

South Korea’s defense ministry said Thursday its neighbor the North has added 20,000 soldiers to its special forces over the past two years and deployed an unspecified number of new battle tanks.


"Threats from North Korea's asymmetric warfare capabilities such as special forces, artillery pieces and weapons of mass destruction have been rising steadily since 2008," Deputy Defense Minister Chang Kwang-Il told journalists.
In its two-yearly white paper, the ministry said the size of the special forces had risen to 200,000 over the past two years.
But the total size of the North's military remained unchanged at about 1.19 million, the paper said.


Experts say the North increasingly focuses on unconventional or "asymmetric" weapons because its ageing conventional weapons are no match for South Korean or US equipment.
The paper said the North's frontline 170mm self-propelled artillery and 240mm multiple rocket launchers are capable of carrying out a "massive surprise bombardment" of Seoul and neighboring areas, even if the overall number of artillery pieces changed little over the past two years.


 It also confirmed the communist state deployed its new battle tank, "Pokpung-ho" ("Storm Tiger"), which the North claims is comparable or superior to the Russian T-72 developed in the 1990s.
The paper did not say how many of the new tanks the North has deployed for operational use. The overall number of its tanks rose to some 4,100 as of last month from 3,900 in 2008, the paper said.


On November 23, the North shelled a Southern border island, killing two marines and two civilians.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose after the South staged numerous drills on the tense border with its neighbor.