North Korean Special Forces

Infantry Magazine, Sept-Dec, 2000

North Korean Special Forces. Second Edition). By Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1998. 328 Pages. S39.95. Reviewed by Michael F. Dilley.

Ordinarily, a second edition of a book doesn't get a separate review, other than perhaps a passing comment that a revised edition is available. Book buyers often shy away from buying a second edition, mostly because they don't believe the price is worth the new material. This is especially true if they already own the previous edition.

On occasion, the second edition of a book differs greatly from the previous version, as is the case with Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr.'s North Korean Special Forces. You could almost make the argument that these are two different books--almost. Obviously the subject matter is the same and the broad discussion, including the historical background, is similar. This new version is so largely expanded that it is practically a new book. Another defense is the publisher; Jane's published the first version of this book, in 1988.

One of the hallmarks of Mr. Bermudez's work is that all of his research is based on open source material. As he points out early in his extensive bibliography, this includes, for this work, both declassified and unclassified U.S. Government publications as well as many books and articles from other sources. Only one, North Korean News, appears to be published in North Korea. I mention this to make the point about the difficulty of writing a book without having available a variety of sources from the country being discussed.

The new version is much better than the original, not just because it has more material in it. It is better organized, and covers the subject matter better. North Korean Special Forces may seem a bit dry, but it is well worth reading and adding to a library. I recommend this book, not just to military history students but especially to those who focus on the more narrow field of special purpose, special mission organizations.