South Korea admitted its military is actively conducting “decapitation exercises” for the possible assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who vowed Sunday to boost the hermit kingdom’s nuclear arsenal, build military drones and launch new spy satellites in 2024. .
Removing the Hermit Kingdom’s supreme leader is an “option,” South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters during an interview on MBN television, according to NK News, a rare admission by leaders of the Hermit Kingdom. Seoul about an operation that has not been successful. It hasn’t been discussed publicly for at least six years.
Asked by reporters if assassination drills were still on the table and whether U.S. nuclear weapons could be deployed in the region, Won-sik said “both are options being considered,” adding that U.S. forces have even participated in assassination drills. murder.
“While it is difficult to talk openly about the beheading, special operations forces from the ROK and the United States are…conducting training,” Won-sik said.
“This training is for aerial maneuvers, raids on key facilities and interior cleaning,” he added.
The low-key exercises with U.S. Army Special Forces took place in early December, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is the main target of “decapitation exercises” carried out by the South Korean military this week KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
On Sunday, Kim warned that U.S. and South Korean policies were making war on the peninsula a “realistic reality” and set military goals for the new year, including launching three new spy satellites to boost the ability of North Korean nuclear weapons attack. according to state media.
“Due to the enemies’ reckless moves to invade us, it is a fait accompli that a war may break out at any time on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim said in a year-end speech, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
U.S. nuclear deployments and exercises in the region have turned South Korea into an “advanced military base and nuclear arsenal” for the United States, Kim said.
Kim Jong Un ordered his military to use nuclear weapons to respond to any attack during a year-end speech Sunday AP
He ordered the North Korean military to be prepared to “pacify the entire territory of South Korea,” including with nuclear weapons in response to any attack.
In response, South Korea vowed that “Kim Jong-Un’s regime will meet its end” with the power of Kim’s US-Korea coalition to initiate any aggression.
Kim’s assassination was last openly discussed in 2017, when former South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo announced plans to establish the “decapitation unit,” so named because it would specialize in eliminating North Korean leaders. .
The units included helicopters and planes specially designed to send troops into North Korea under the cover of night and carry out assassinations, according to the New York Times.
South Korean special forces have been training alongside US special forces for assassination missions. AP
While North Korea is open about its weapons of mass destruction, South Korea does not maintain a nuclear arsenal by choice. According to officials, one of Seoul’s best options to deter North Korea is to keep Kim worried.
“The best deterrent we can have, besides having our own nuclear weapons, is to make Kim Jong-un fear for his life,” former South Korean general Shin Won-sik told the Times in 2017.
The new talks about the decapitation unit came just a day after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile test for the first time in five months.
The missile reportedly used solid fuel, a crucial element needed for nuclear-tipped missiles to reach the United States from the Korean Peninsula. A day earlier, North Korea launched a short-range missile test.
Both tests are believed to have been carried out in response to a meeting between US and South Korean leaders held in Washington on December 15, in which both decided to conduct training 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.”
In early December, he reiterated his words and said that such an attack “will receive a swift, overwhelming and decisive response.”
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn