Page 4 - Winter Training Cycle News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Weather. it's not really good for fueling missiles and all the rest of it. also, because the north korean military now is making preparations for its winter training cycle. which is this massive event. so normally north korea doesn't launch missiled at this time. it only starts to do that in the spring. i was taken by surprise. >> "daily beast" columnist gordon chang. thank you very much. >> thanks, katy. and one more thing before we go. it's about the story we brought you at the top of the hour. as a journalist, you're trained not to use the word "i" but in my book i wrote about the experie...

Run up of the communist party the 19th national communist the chinese ruler demanded absolute calm because he wanted to consolidate his position didn't want anything to interfere with that so i think they told the north koreans thou shall not and also right now, the north korean military is preparing for its winter training cycle. they don't launch missiles this time of the year, so i think that it's a combination of things why north korea has been so quiet in the last several months. the real test is february when they really start up sending off missiles into space again. >> maria: oh, okay ...

Are they generally considered to be well trained, good soldiers? what are they? >> they are well trained compared to the rest of the population of north korea. they have good nutrition, they have good medical care. they get a lot of training throughout the year, primarily during the winter training cycle. as the spring and summer roll around, they get into the other duties. but they're pretty good. >> i would guess lack of supply, is one of their hampering forces. fuel sometimes, things they might limit on. >> the limiting factor is their ability to sustain themselves in combat. >> if we look ...

>> but a very paranoid leadership. >> let's talk about the breakdown of that. the if you talk about the leadership, what is the number one quality required of the top officers in this military? >> loyalty to the communist party and the leader right here, kim jong-un. >> the number one quality. what about the special forces? >> very large special forces, very well trained. the best of their military, over 100,000. they can insert by air or by sea. and we estimate that there are stay-behind forces, sleeper agents already located in south korea. >> there's everybody else, this is a massive number...

>> the number one quality. what about the special forces? >> very large special forces, very well trained. the best of their military, over 100,000. they can insert by air or by sea. and we estimate that there are stay-behind forces, sleeper agents already located in south korea. >> there's everybody else, this is a massive number of people, are they generally considered to be well trained, good soldiers? >> they are well trained compared to the rest of the population of north korea. they have good nutrition, they have good medical care. they get a lot of training throughout the year, primaril...