North Korea's military is conducting unusually intensive winter drills amid growing concerns over the unpredictable nation's further provocations, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean defense source.
"The North's winter military training, which began in early November, is extraordinarily active," the source was quoted as saying.
In particular, the North has markedly increased the number of exercises of its special forces, including airborne units. The number of parachute drop drills using the Antonov An-2 aircraft this season has jumped more than 20 times from the previous year, according to the source.
The An-2, 13 meters long by 18.2 meters wide, is radar-elusive and capable of accommodating about 10 soldiers at a time. The South Korean troops are keeping close tabs on the North Korean military's moves, added the source.
The North has also doubled its live-fire artillery drills, the source said. Meanwhile, the North reportedly has almost completed its work to expand a major missile launch site near the border with China, the report said.
Pyongyang has been enlarging a launch pad there apparently to be used for a long-range rocket.