asia times
Robert E. McCoy March 29, 2018 4:47 PM (UTC+8)
[excerpt]
http://www.atimes.com/article/north-korean-military-efforts-can-traced-far-off-home-base/Pyongyang’s Korean People’s Army is variously known for being huge but stealthy, dangerous but decrepit, nuclear-armed but ill-fed. As the armed force of one of the world’s most isolated nations, one thing it is not known for is having global reach. While its special forces have operated as far afield as Burma, where they bombed the visiting South Korean cabinet in Yangon, in 1983, and have abducted civilians from Japanese islands, these operations were small-scale and (relatively) close to home.
However, a recent report that North Korea was building an underground military base in Syria brings up the question of where else Pyongyang’s military forces, and associated parties, such as scientists specializing in strategic materials and programs, might have been active.
The answers may be surprising.
It is widely known that from 1967 to 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, Pyongyang sent fighter pilots to assist North Vietnam in its fight against South Vietnam and the United States. Their skills were significant: some of those pilots were victorious against US pilots flying more sophisticated aircraft.
