Some North Korean troops were spotted in camouflage outfits at a military parade in Pyongyang on Jan. 14 that looked much the same as their South Korean counterparts'.
"Based on analysis of images of the parade released by the North, we've found that North Korean troops wore the same pixelated camouflage as the South Korean military's," a military source here said.
The only difference was that the North Korean uniform was sand-colored, which is usually used to blend in with a desert environment, while the South Korean camo is a more appropriate leafy green.
South Korea began devising pixelated camo patterns in 2005 and has supplied the uniform to troops on the frontline since the early 2010s.
The military decided to develop it because it worried that there could be problems with the old conventional zebra-pattern camo, which had become widely available from surplus stores.
"It seems that the North has the means to produce military uniforms in the same pixel patterns as the South Korean ones," said Shin Jong-woo of the Korea Defense and Security Forum. "The similarity could create some confusion in South Korean military operations."
The fabric used in North Korea probably comes from China.
