Kim Jong Un has some of the world’s most powerful militaries plotting his downfall.KRT via AP Video/AP)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has pushed for a new plan for a rapid war with North Korea and an overhaul of the country’s defense industry to overwhelm and crush the North’s government, the South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday.
The Defense Ministry briefed Moon on an “aggressive wartime action plan led by our military,” the paper reported, citing sources from Cheong Wa Dae, the South Korean equivalent of the White House.
Moon took office in May promising to attempt to engage diplomatically with North Korea and seek peace, but in the months since, the North has provoked the international community with missile tests at a blistering pace.
For some time, South Korea has been training a “decapitation force,” reportedly with the help of the US Navy’s SEAL Team 6, but now an increasingly bold North Korea may demand quicker action.
South Korea’s new plan identifies more than 1,000 targets for precision missile fires and sites for marines to drop in and quickly kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the paper reported.
The plan represents a more independent version of South Korea’s current plan, which relies on support from US aircraft carriers. As it stands, no major military commander recommends military action against North Korea, which has a staggering array of conventional — and potentially nuclear — weapons pointed at Seoul, where 26 million call home.
But South Korea’s new plan to quickly and decisively dominate the North relies on reforming the defense-acquisition process and cutting out wasteful spending to wield the full might of its economic dominance against Pyongyang, according to the report. For that reason, don’t expect the plan to take effect anytime soon.
