Seoul says North Korean ships equipped with US machine guns

North Korea has started to equip its ships with US made multi-barrelled machine guns, South Korean media reported.

North Korea has started to equip its ships in the Yellow Sea on the border with South Korea with US made multi-barrelled machine guns, South Korean media reported Tuesday.

"It is noticed that North Korea has started to replace obsolete weapons installed on its coast guard ships with the Gatling machine guns," a military source in Seoul said as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

According to the source, if the North Korean coast guard fleet, consisting of 382 ships, is equipped with such machine guns, it will "pose a significant threat for the South Korean naval forces".

According to the media outlet, the North Korean and US intelligence services are currently trying to determine the channel, through which Pyohgyang could obtain these machine guns.