The South Korean Defence Ministry released its 2014 biennial review paper on Tuesday in which it stated that the North's military power is continuing to develop including its technology to miniaturise nuclear warheads.

During a briefing in Seoul, a ministry official said that according to the report "the North Korean navy is improving its strike capabilities on water and underwater constructing various kinds of high speed special vessels."

South Korean Defence Ministry's deputy minister for defence policy Ryu Jeh-seung also said that that it seemed North Korea was constructing new, smaller submarines "able to load ballistic missiles."

Acquiring such technology takes around two to seven years in general and eight years have passed since the North conducted its first nuclear test, Ryu pointed out.

The defence paper also said after an order from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North has set up a new corps-scale military unit near the South-North border in North Hankyong Province.

It added that the North had approximately 1.2 (m) million regular servicemen as of October 2014 which is around 10,000 more than 2012.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

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Seoul - 6 January 2015

1. South Korean Deputy Minister for Defence Policy Ryu Jeh-seung entering briefing room to make announcements regarding 2014 South Korean Defence White Paper

2.SOUNDBITE (Korean): Ryu Jeh-seung, South Korean Deputy Minister for Defence Policy

"North Korean ground forces are increasing the strengths of artillery and mechanised units, and it seems like its special warfare units will be building facilities for invasion near DMZ (Demilitarised Zone) in case of a war. The North Korean navy is improving its strike capabilities on water and underwater constructing various kinds of high speed special vessels, and we are judging they are consistently constructing new forms of submarines, including the ones able to carry ballistic missiles."

3. Defence ministry officials

4. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Ryu Jeh-seung, South Korean Deputy Minister for Defence Policy

"the Northern Limit Line at the Yellow Sea is the practical sea border our military has protected for the last 60 years by blood and our military is regarding it as the territorial boundary."

5. Ryu speaking