N Korea deploys attack helicopters near Border

North Korea has placed about 50 attack helicopters at air bases near the western sea border in response to South Korea's Air Force placement in the Yellow Sea, South Korean government sources said Tuesday. North Korea's military has deployed the helicopters at two air bases near the South's Baengnyeong Island, located just south of the western maritime border, since May to prepare for ground attacks and high mobility drills, a senior military official said. The North's forward deployed helicopters number about 50, including the Mi-2 helicopters, which were produced in North Korea in the 1980s, and Russian-made models, South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency reported. The official analyzed Pyongyang deployed the attack helicopters on the frontline in response to South Korea's placement of assault helicopters and multiple launch rocket system in the northwestern islands.