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Posted on 06/28/2009 12:33:24 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The South Korean military plans to speed up efforts to deploy ground, air and naval weapons systems for use in strikes against key facilities in North Korea in the event of war, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday.
The plan is part of a revised version of a military modernization package. The ministry unveiled the revision of the Defense Reform 2020 initiative drawn up in 2005.
The updated plan is focused on securing independent capabilities to remove North Korea's asymmetrical military threat of nuclear and missile programs by deploying sophisticated surveillance, reconnaissance and striking assets.
In the case of an emergency, the military could conduct pre-emptive strikes against nuclear and missile facilities, an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
``That depends on a decision by the leadership,'' the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Under an integrated defense mechanism, the Air Force's multi-purpose satellite, early warning aircraft and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles, along with a ground-based early warning radar, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions around the clock, according to the defense reform plan.
Once signs of unusual movement, such as missile and nuclear tests, are detected, F-15K and other advanced aircraft are to conduct surgical strikes against the relevant facilities, it says.
Both ship-based and ground-based interceptors are ready to shoot down missiles from the North, it says.
The military is considering the introduction of up-to-date SM-6 extended range active missiles, which are being developed by the U.S. Navy and Raytheon, the JCS official said.
The purchase of the PAC-3 missile interceptor system is also under consideration, he said.
The Army, for its part, will triple the number of its K-9 self-propelled howitzers and next-generation multiple launch rocket systems to counter attacks by North Korea's long-range artillery deployed near the border.
About 15 trillion won ($11.6 billion) will go towards producing and deploying about 1,000 K-9 and new multiple launch rocket systems by 2020, said the JCS official.
The North is believed to have about 1,100 long-range artillery systems, including 60-kilometer-range 240mm rocket launchers, along the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.
Under the revised plan, the military has readjusted its target troop reduction number to 517,000. The original plan called for cutting the troop level from 690,000 to 500,000 by 2020.
For example, the military has decided to decrease the number of Marine force cuts from 4,000 to 3,200, in a bid to boost defense against North Korea's provocation in the volatile western waters.
The military has also decided to withdraw a plan to slash the number South Korean service members supporting the U.S. Army here, called Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army (KATUSA).
In an Army restructuring plan, five regional corps and two mechanized corps will be operated separately from three specialized commands for air operations, guided missiles and special operations.
The Capital Defense Command in Seoul will serve as the regional corps responsible for the defense of the capital area after merging with the Capital Defense Corps currently based in Gyeonggi Province.
The Army will maintain 28 divisions in peacetime. In case of an emergency, the number will increase to 38 with the reinforcement of reserved troops.
In this case South Korea shouldn’t even care about collateral damage. They’re already living in hell.
Well isn't now for crying out loud.
you funnee man.
Pyongyang still has Seoul over a barrel. Why doesn’t Seoul just evacuate to some more distant location? Because Kim would start shooting at once. There is no really good answer until the Norkies topple. A surprise Japanese nuke on Pyongyang may be the best we can hope for.
I try to be humorous when possible. But it is hard to do under the current climate.
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They better get busy. Can't count on The Obammunist. Must consider Red China on the N. Korean side.
yitbos
Okay, I'll grant you that. But what about the thousands of artillary units facing Seoul, just over the border?
My answer to this problem: American TRIDENT NUKE SUBMARINES! LAUNCH NOW! and worry about collateral damage later. The Western powers didn't care about collateral damage in WWII. Why should we be so political correct now with another totalitarian dictatorship breathing down our neck and ready for the worst?
Seriously, how long are WE (the USA - screw the UN) going to let these rogue nations build such DEVASTATING WEAPONS???
The growing potential is much worse and I would rather give up 10's of thousands of innocent North Koreans that just one of our own sons or daughters.
I have limited compassion - I openly admit it. I reserve my compassion for the good guys, while trying not be a monster. But this regime needs to "glass" yesterday.
Why am I the only one seeing the threat of a Nuclear NK and all the stuff they WOULD sell on the black market to enemies of the US? Not to mention that they have recently declared the armistice null and have declared their intention to further hosilities?
We are technically back at WAR with those pricks. They said so. So let's give the American Dream they so hate. And please don't tell me we are locked up in Iraq and Aftganistan. I can guarantee that our Tridents are in vicinity - loaded with nukes and now nasty re-fitted cruise missles in the silos.
Yeah, I'm THAT cruel, deal with it,
Look at Pakistan ...more than any other country, it is the prime nuclear threat to the US, and the main source of Islamic radicalism in the world. Yet, we are set to give them more military aid (e.g. F-16 upgrades, and AMRAAMS ...I guess they need AMRAAMS to fight the Taliban), yet when it comes to Taiwan both the Bush administration and the Obama rabble have refused to give them weaponry!
Animal Farm lives on.
Two years ago I talked to an Air Force major general who spent most of his career as a fighter pilot and much of it stationed in Korea. He said the U.S. plan for dealing with the long-range artillery sited in the ridges north of the DMZ would be a two-to-three-day bombing operation on these emplacements. The bulk of the North Korean guns are in tunnels and caves. The targeting on these sites is calculated to bury them under tons of dislodged boulders, dirt and rubble. He said the planners figured some gun crews would survive and dig enough debris away to operate their weapons. These would be struck again. He said close to 100 percent of all the ridge emplacements would be eliminated within 48 hours. What amount of damage the North Koreans do to Seoul in the opening barrages I don't know.
For years the doctrine in the South was to expect a mass attack over the DMZ led by North Korean armored vehicles. But these formations would be vulnerable to air attack by the U.S. and South Koreans who would gain air supremacy quickly. Also, the North Koreans have a chronic fuel shortage which could limit this type of operation.
The asymmetrical threat they talk about is more than 100,000 North Korean special forces operatives entering the South by boat, air, in land vehicles and on foot. These guys would attack the electric grid, command-and-control centers, air defense installations, etc. Some units will carry equipment for dispersing chemical agents and biological agents like anthrax.
If a crisis gets out of control, shots are exchanged and things begin escalating the South may have time to strike at this asymmetrical component before it gets moving.
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