Marines capacity for Korea amphibious landing lacking: general

The United States would be hard pressed to launch an amphibious landing in Korea if called to do so, US Marine Corps commandant Thursday, warning against a decline in the military's capability to fight from the sea.

In discussing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear test last month, General James Conway told reporters that only between 10 to 15 percent of US Marine forces are trained in the type of amphibious warfare that could be required.

"It concerns me greatly that there is always the possibility that we could be asked to do something like that that we're not trained to do," he said at the National Press Club.

"Today we have the capacity to put two Marine expeditionary brigades to sea. That's two regiments across the beach. That's not a lot of people when you're talking about invading another nation," he added.

A Marine expeditionary brigade amounts to about 15,000 men, according to the Defense Department. By contrast, Pyongyang's highly militarized regime has a one million man army at its disposal.

The Marine Corps last major amphibious invasion was during the 1950-53 Korean war when the 1st Marine Division landed at Inchon in 1950 to spearhead a counter-offensive against a North Korean invasion of South Korea.

Conway warned against the Pentagon's budget cuts -- which has focused on reducing its conventional weaponry -- slashing Marine training in this arena, noting the United States "could lose its amphibious capability."