Which unit is strongest in the ROK Army? Military experts did not hesitate to name the “Jeongal Daedae” as the unit having the best fighting capabilities in the Army. Jeongal literally means scorpion.
The battalion, which belongs to the Korea Combat Training Center (KCTC), was created in 2003 as a “red flag partner” tasked with helping other military units beef up their combat capabilities, KCTC officers said.
Brigadier General Seo Jeong-hak, commander of the KCTC, said the Jeongal forces have set the goal of “becoming an enemy (for South Korean troops) that is stronger and more spiteful than the (North Korean) enemy.”
Jeongal, armed with electronic equipment, has defeated all troops in about 100 simulated combat exercises conducted since 2005, the officers said.
In those simulated combats, an average 80 percent of the Jeongal troops survived, they said.
In addition, highly trained Special Forces had problems when they held mock combat with Jeongal troops, according to an officer.
The Jeongal Battalion consists of the “best troops.”
Soldiers who are 170 centimeters tall or more and have eyesight of 1.0 are eligible to apply for the battalion. Successful applicants undergo an intensive three-week training program and 100-kilometer mountain field exercise.
Corporal Koo Hee-young, 22, who joined the battalion in November last year, said: “At the beginning, training was so hard that I lost 10 kilograms. Now, I’m proud of becoming one of 700 members of Jeongal, who were selected from among 600,000 ROK troops.”