S. Korea: North’s nukes on attack radar (has pre-emptive strike on NK nuke sites)

The South Korean military is prepared to launch a pre-emptive attack on North Korea’s nuclear installations if they become a military threat, Gen. Kim Tae-young, the newly designated chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a hearing yesterday.

It was the first time the military has confirmed contingency plans for a pre-emptive attack on Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities and comes as Seoul’s new conservative government is being closely watched for signs of how it will approach North Korea.

Speaking at his confirmation hearing in the National Assembly, Kim said the military has kept its options and contingencies ready in case of a military attack from the North.

“We would identify possible locations of nuclear weapons and make a precise attack in advance,” Kim said when asked what he would do if North Korea were to develop the capability and intent to attack the South with nuclear weapons.

Kim was the commander of the First Army and is a specialist in military strategy and tactics. “Our goal is to prevent North Korea’s nuclear weapons from exploding in our territory,” he told lawmakers.

In the past, officers designated to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff have not been subject to Assembly confirmation hearings, but that changed with recent revisions in the law on senior public servants.

Kim also expressed his determination to resist any changes in the so-called Northern Limit Line, the Yellow Sea border between the South and North. He said the line, which has been the site of deadly naval clashes, is “as significant as the land border,” and should be “protected at all costs.”

The line became controversial after former President Roh Moo-hyun agreed with Pyongyang to form a joint fishing area in the Yellow Sea to be used by both countries.

The news is that S. Korea bothered to publicize its existence, which would not go down well with Chia Head. Actually, he has not been happy with the tone of new S. Korean govt. and let this displeasure known with the following move:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080327/r_t_ians_wl_asia/twl-north-korea-expels-11-south-korean-o-d5d6288_2.html

North Korea expels 11 South Korean officials

Thu, Mar 27 05:18 PM

Seoul, March 27 (DPA) In a confrontational move, North Korea expelled 11 South Korean government officials from their joint office in the industrial zone of Kaesong Thursday, the unification ministry said.

North Korea said remarks by Unification Minister Kim Ha Joong last week that it would be difficult to expand the complex without progress in North Korea's denuclearisation as the reason for the expulsion, said a ministry spokesman.

Newly elected conservative President Lee Myung Bak expressed regret Thursday over the expulsion and vowed to deal sternly with Pyongyang's provocation.

'North Korea's abrupt act is regrettable and may pose an obstacle to sustained development of inter-Korean relations,' presidential spokesman Lee Dong Kwang told reporters after an emergency meeting of security-related ministers and aides.

Talks on North Korea's denuclearisation, involving the US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas, have been stalled since the end of 2007 over a dispute with the US on a declaration of the North's nuclear programmes and proliferation activities.

Despite Thursday's expulsion South Korea and North Korea went ahead with energy and economic aid working-level talks at the truce village of Panmunjom as scheduled, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea agreed to provide Pyongyang with fuel and other aid under the multilateral nuclear deal signed last year and the two-day meeting is to discuss the technicalities of delivering the aid.

Lee has said he will take a tough position on Pyongyang and link inter-Korean cooperation projects to progress in multilateral negotiations over North Korea's nuclear programmes - a sharp shift from his two liberal predecessors.

However, Lee has pledged that his administration will continue existing inter-Korean economic cooperation projects and the provision of humanitarian aid to North Korea.

The Kaesong industrial zone, located just north of the heavily armed inter-Korean border, is a symbol of the 2000 inter-Korean summit in which the leaders reached an agreement on peace and reconciliation.

There are 69 South Korean factories employing 23,953 North Korean workers in the industrial zone, which the two Koreas agreed to expand at their second summit last year.

Five South Korean civilians are now working at the Kaesong office.

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