War games Korean-style: South rattles sabre with awesome display of tanks... but the North is forced to Photoshop its military might

 

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War games Korean-style: South rattles sabre with awesome display of tanks... but the North is forced to Photoshop its military might

• Close inspection of photo of hovercraft storming North Korean beach reveals two extra vessels were digitally added
• Suspicious state-released pictures suggest officials tampered with photos to boost numbers of hovercraft
• Meanwhile genuine pictures emerged of army tanks in South Korea demonstrating the country's own military might
• North Korea today announced it was severing its last military hotline with its neighbour to the south

By Daniel Miller

PUBLISHED:06:43 EST, 27 March 2013| UPDATED:12:20 EST, 27 March 2013

An attempt by North Korea to show-off its military might has sensationally backfired after it was revealed officials had to cut-and-paste pictures of extra hovercraft into a photograph of a beach landing exercise to make up numbers.

The picture, issued by the state media organisation, purports to show a total of eight military hovercraft storming a beach on the east coast of the country during a training exercise - but close-ups suggest two of the vessels were digitally added.

As Pyongyang apparently resorted to Photoshop to enhance its show of strength, pictures taken in South Korea today captured army tanks engaged in a genuine display of firepower.

Not quite D-Day! An official North Korean photograph purports to show eight military hovercraft storming a beach on March 25. But are there actually only six?

Similarities: Close examination of the first two hovercraft approaching the shore appears to show identical patterns of surf flying up the side of the vessels, while parts of the background have been crudely erased using photographic software - with the one on the left a copy of the one on the right

Tell-tale signs in the North Korean picture include the identical way the surf flies up at the front of the first two hovercraft approaching the shore - suggesting that the one on the left is a copy of the one on the right - as well as the identical appearance of the two furthest from view.

In another picture issued only six hovercraft are shown on the beach with the troops disembarking and storming up the beach. So what happened to the other two?

A third suspicious photograph shows North Korean female artillery crews firing salvos of rockets during the landing and anti-landing drills. The glaring similarities were reported to the AFP agency which distributed the pictures after being noticed by The Atlantic.

Clones: The hovercraft furthest from view appears to be a copy of the one on the left of this close-up suggesting the rogue state only have six

In this picture which does not appear to have been doctored, troops are seen disembarking and storming up the beach. But there are only six hovercraft visible - so what happened to the other two?

Meanwhile photographs taken in South Korea today captured Seoul flexing its own military might - without any apparent digital tampering.

The pictures capture blasts being issued by K1 army tanks participating in a training exercise at a field in Pocheon, north east of the capital.

The exercise took place as North Korea announced it was cutting its military hotline to the South - breaking the last direct communication link between the two Koreas.

Today North Korea warned South Korea's new president to 'watch her tongue', reprising the kind of vitriolic language that it used to dish out to her predecessor on a regular basis.

Park Geun-hye, South Korea's first female president, marked the third anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors by calling on the impoverished North to abandon its nuclear ambitions to save its starving people.

The South, backed by an international commission, blames a North Korean torpedo attack for the sinking although Pyongyang denies it was responsible.

'The owner of Cheongwadae (South Korea's presidential office) had better... watch her tongue,' North Korea's official KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea as saying.

North Korea has made no secret of its hatred for Park and earlier this month referred to the 'venomous swish' of her skirt.

Tension between the two Koreas has risen sharply since the North conducted its third nuclear test in February, just days before Park took office, in a move that triggered new sanctions against Pyongyang.

Scenes from the South: Meanwhile in South Korea tanks were seen being rolled out in Pocheon, around 28 miles north east of Seoul and nine miles south of the demilitarised zone separating the country from its neighbour to the North

Firepower: A South Korean army tank participating in a military exercise at the training field in Pocheon today, as North Korea announced it was severing its military hotline to the south

Heightened tensions: Cutting the military hotline with the South is the latest in a string of provocative moves by North Korea

Military might: Several South Korean army K1 tanks were seen in action at the Seungjin fire training field today, as tensions between the two Koreas rose even further

In a further sign of growing animosity towards its neighbour, North Korea announced today it was cutting its last military hotline with Seoul.

It is a link that has been essential in operating the last major symbol of inter-Korean co-operation; an industrial complex in the North that employs hundreds of workers from the South.

It is not yet clear what the decision will mean for South Korean workers who were based at the Kaesong industrial complex. When the link was last cut in 2009, many South Koreans were left stranded in the North.

The shutdown is the latest in a string of inflammatory actions from North Korea amid anger over joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. and fresh UN sanctions imposed in the wake of Pyongyang's nuclear test last month.

A female army unit fires a salvo of rockets during the landing and anti-landing drills which were said to have taken place on the east coast on March 25

A dramatic picture shows rockets being launched during the landing and anti-landing exercise

North Korea regularly attacked Park's predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, with bellicose rhetoric. It referred to Lee, who cut off aid to Pyongyang during his five years in office, as a 'rat-bastard' and shot and hanged him in effigy.

Park, 61, put the building of a new relationship with Pyongyang at the centre of her 2012 election campaign, but has always said that any improvement in relations depended on the North giving up nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are still technically at war after their 1950-53 civil conflict ended with an armistice, not a treaty, which the North has since said it has torn to pieces.

Action man: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is surrounded by military chiefs as he presides over the beach landing exercise

Wrong-Un: The 30-year-old dictator waves a baton authoritatively as he informs commanders of his expert opinion

Ladies man: Kim Jong grins with delight as he surrounded by a group of cooing female soldiers

Yesterday the rogues state warned that it is close to attacking U.S. military bases - including on mainland America - as it accused its 'enemy' of intimidation and threats.

The communist country's state media has said its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units have been ordered to enter the highest level of combat mode and are trained on three targets.

Kim Jong-Un's dictatorship said on television it would be looking to hit Guam, Hawaii and mainland America after U.S. bombers flew more sorties threatening the North.

North Korea has in recent days threatened the United States with nuclear war and rehearsed drone attacks on South Korea, prompting Washington, involved in military drills with the South, to say it is ready for any contingency.