South Korea admits its military is actively conducting “beheading exercises” for the possible assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — who pledged on Sunday to boost the reclusive kingdom’s nuclear arsenal, build military drones and launch new spy satellites by 2024.
Taking out the top leader of the Hermit Kingdom is an “option,” South Korean (ROK) defense minister Shin Won-sik told reporters during an interview on MBN television, according to NK News – a rare admission from Seoul’s leader about an operation that has not been discussed publicly. open for at least six years.
Asked by reporters if assassination drills were still being discussed and if US nuclear weapons could be deployed to the region, Won-sik said “both are considered as options,” adding that the US military had even participated in assassination drills.
“Although it is difficult to openly discuss beheadings, ROK-US special operations forces are… conducting exercises,” Won-sik said.
“These exercises are for air maneuvers, raids on key facilities and internal mop-ups,” he added.
Under-the-radar training with US Army Special Forces was held earlier in December, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was the main target of a “beheading exercise” held by the South Korean military this week KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
On Sunday, Kim warned that US and South Korean policies made war on the peninsula a “realistic reality”, and laid out military goals for the new year, including launching three new spy satellites to improve the ability to target North Korea’s nuclear weapons, according to state media.
“Due to the reckless actions of the enemy to attack us, it is a fact that war can break out at any time on the Korean peninsula,” Kim said in a year-end speech, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported.
The use of US nuclear assets and training in the region has made South Korea a “forward military base and nuclear weapons” for America, Kim said.
He ordered the North Korean military to prepare to “pacify the entire South Korean territory,” including with nuclear weapons in response to any attack.
In response, South Korea promised “Kim Jong-Un’s regime will face the end” with the US-Korea coalition force Kim initiates any invasion.
Kim Jong Un ordered his military to use nuclear weapons to respond to any attack during his year-end address Sunday AP
Kim’s assassination was last discussed publicly in 2017, when former South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo announced plans to establish a “beheading unit,” so-called because it would specialize in eliminating the North Korean leader.
The unit involves helicopters and planes specially designed to drop troops into North Korea under the cover of night and carry out assassinations, according to the New York Times.
While North Korea is vocal about its weapons of mass destruction, South Korea does not maintain a nuclear stockpile by choice. One of Seoul’s best options for deterring North Korea is to keep Kim worried, according to officials.
“The best deterrent we can do, besides having our own nukes, is to make Kim Jong-un fear for his life,” former South Korean general Shin Won-sik told the Times in 2017.
South Korean special forces have been training with US special forces for AP assassination missions
The new talk of the beheading unit comes just a day after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile test for the first time in five months.
The missile reportedly uses solid fuel, a key element needed for a nuclear missile to reach the US from the Korean peninsula. The day before that, North Korea launched a short-range missile test.
The two tests are believed to have been made in response to a meeting between US and South Korean leaders held in Washington on December 15, where the two decided to conduct exercises for nuclear scenarios during joint exercises next summer.
In April, President Biden warned that a North Korean attack on South Korea would “result in the end of any regime.”
Earlier in December, he repeated his words, saying such an attack “will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response.”
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
