The best of the best Korean MacGyvers
By Ben Jhoty, Staff reporter

On the military chessboard of the Korean Peninsula, they can be likened to knights: A potent weapon to be used with wisdom and foresight, too valuable to be forsaken, whether countering their opponents' offensives or battling deep in enemy territory. Faced with a foe that has taken on almost mythical proportions, these prized pieces are Korea's Special Forces.

If ever there was a need for elite combat units, then it is here on the peninsula, where, despite diplomatic overtures, Cold War tensions persist. The threat from a fearsome and sometimes hostile enemy is real and ever present. Who do you think they call every time a North Korean vessel enters South Korean waters?

While Hollywood has virtually mythologised the U.S. Special Forces, Korea's elite units are naturally less well known, although no less formidable. Special Forces expert Kim Sun Han, who has been studying elite national combat units for over 20 years and written four books including "Rambo and Dumbo - Covert National Forces of the World" said Korea's Special Forces were amongst the world's best.

"In counter-terrorism operation competitions held since the late 1970s, Korea's Black Berets have been ranked 1st twice," Kim said. "The navy and marine units are also highly ranked and they train and conduct exercises with American and British units." Which is just as well for North Korea has the largest number of special operation forces in the world. In this context, Kim said South Korean Special Forces were the most effective countermeasure to thwarting infiltrations by North Korean commandos as they are specially trained in enemy tactics.

In structure, Korea's forces resemble their American counterparts and like the American forces, the field is rife with acronyms. The navy's elite units include the UDT - Underwater Demolition Team; SEALS - Sea and Land Commandos; EOD- Explosive Ordnance Disposal; and the Maritime Counter-terrorist Team. From the ROK Marines, there is the Special Reconnaissance Battalion known as the 'Sharkmen,' while the army's elite unit is known as the Black Berets.

Like most elite units around the world, the Korean forces were a product of the Cold War with its emphasis on reconnaissance and covert intelligence gathering rather than traditional warfare. "The UDT and the Black Berets started in the 1950s to counter infiltrations by North Korean commandos and guerrillas," Kim said. "As there has been no all-out war, they were intended to meet another type of combat, namely guerilla and unconventional warfare."

The primary mission of the Black Berets, Kim said, is to infiltrate into enemy hinterlands, fermenting anti-government sentiment or sabotaging installations of strategic importance such as missile sites or airbases, either by recruiting disenchanted locals or by themselves.

Unlike American forces that have historically been orientated toward worldwide conflicts, Korea's Special Forces have had to defend their country. Perhaps the most famous campaign waged by the Black Berets was in 1968 when the North's commandos infiltrated the eastern region of the nation. On this occasion, the Black Berets rescued hundreds of civilians and successfully wiped out the fleeing commandos, Kim said.

More recently in 1995, the navy's Maritime Counter-terrorist Team entered a North Korean submarine that ran aground off the east coast, although the fate of the crew could not be determined. "Nobody knows for sure if North Korean commandos were inside the sub," Kim said. "We don't know if there were any survivors or if they committed suicide."

While normally limited to operations on the peninsula, divisions of the forces have also participated in overseas campaigns including the Vietnam and Gulf War, with several units currently serving in East Timor.

Breaking into these revered ranks is initially a matter of volunteering and is open to enlisted soldiers and civilians. Prospective recruits undergo a physical and mental examination followed by six months of basic training that involves physical conditioning, mountaineering, enemy weapons handling, basic navigation skills, evasion, escape and survival skills, swimming, parachuting and demolition. Of the prospective recruits, one in three is admitted.

At the present time, the most arduous training is that of the Navy SEALS. "The Navy course includes what they call 'hell week,' the fifth week during which the trainee is put through a series of bone chilling programs without sleep all week long. The dropout rate is 50 percent," Kim said.

Special Forces agents earn 10 times the salary that regular soldiers receive in what Kim likens to "danger money." The minimum age requirement for the Black-Berets is 20 and in both the army and navy's elite units, agents must be under 28. Women have been admitted since the 1970s with numbers currently estimated at less than a hundred.

Through their modification of martial arts to meet the demands of war rather than traditional self-defense, the Korean forces have become renown for their excellence in hand to hand combat. "Tukong moosul," developed by martial arts experts especially for the Black Berets, is a form of martial arts based on taekwondo, but also incorporating other fighting styles. The marine style is known as "mujok-do," which means "no enemy soldier can beat you."

The physical proficiency and mental discipline of Special Forces agents has intrigued many and Hollywood stereotypes that dwell on physical prowess and military cunning are pervasive. According to Kim, however, the policy of giving priority to physical characteristics is now redundant. "The era of Rambo is over," he said. "The rapidly changing world calls for them to be armed with higher intelligence, knowledge, common sense, flexibility and technical expertise. They need to be more like MacGyver. A jack of all trades."

In his book "Rambo and Dumbo," Kim asserts that the Special Forces are not pawns and need to be used for righteous causes with positive intentions. "In war, you must be a shadow and you must follow your leaders," he said. "So Special Forces have to be utilized intelligently with consideration and insight, otherwise they are effectively useless, like a dumbo."