By Jun Ji-hye
South Korea will set up a special unit this year tasked with removing the North Korean leadership including its leader Kim Jong-un in the case of a war, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.
The ministry advanced the plan by two years as part of efforts to better counter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
During a New Year policy briefing to the acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said, "We are planning to set up a special infiltration brigade with the goal of removing or at least paralyzing North Korea's command structure in the event of a war."
He said the original schedule was to set up such a unit by 2019.
The unit will be established to infiltrate into Pyongyang to remove its wartime leadership that has the authority for ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) including nukes and missiles, he said.
The ministry stressed that the North is obsessed with advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities by increasing its stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium despite pressure and sanctions from the international community.
Han said the ministry has recently updated information on the amount of the materials the North may be holding, indicating that the stockpile has actually increased. But he refused to reveal a definite figure.
The ministry has so far estimated that the repressive state has 40 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium.
Han warned that the North could make a "strategic or tactical provocation" in the coming months while not giving up its nuclear and missile programs.
In his New Year message, Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also made it clear his country has no plan to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions.
Kim claimed Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The North's KN-08 road-mobile ICBM with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers is capable, in theory, of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland.
Speculation is growing that the isolated state may push ahead with major provocations this month on and around the young leader's birthday, Jan. 8, and the inauguration of Donald Trump as the new U.S. president, Jan. 20.
Regarding the planned deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, Han said the installation will go ahead as planned, downplaying calls from opposition parties to reconsider the plan.
"THAAD deployment is to better deter North Korea threats. It cannot be the subject of political debate," Han said. "The battery will be deployed as planned."
Seoul and Washington announced a decision last year to deploy the THAAD battery here this year, but the opposition bloc has been demanding the plan be reviewed after President Park Geun-hye, who strongly pushed for the deployment despite controversy, was impeached by the National Assembly, Dec. 9.
Mindful of THAAD dissenters' claim that the deployment will hurt South Korea's relations with China, Han said, "We will seek out various communication channels with China and consistently explain our position."
On the upcoming inauguration of the new U.S. government, Han said the ministry will enhance high-level personnel exchanges to stably manage key pending issues between the two countries, including defense cost-sharing and the transfer of U.S. wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces to Seoul.
South Korea will set up a special unit this year tasked with removing the North Korean leadership including its leader Kim Jong-un in the case of a war, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.
The ministry advanced the plan by two years as part of efforts to better counter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
During a New Year policy briefing to the acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said, "We are planning to set up a special infiltration brigade with the goal of removing or at least paralyzing North Korea's command structure in the event of a war."
He said the original schedule was to set up such a unit by 2019.
The unit will be established to infiltrate into Pyongyang to remove its wartime leadership that has the authority for ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) including nukes and missiles, he said.
The ministry stressed that the North is obsessed with advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities by increasing its stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium despite pressure and sanctions from the international community.
Han said the ministry has recently updated information on the amount of the materials the North may be holding, indicating that the stockpile has actually increased. But he refused to reveal a definite figure.
The ministry has so far estimated that the repressive state has 40 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium.
Han warned that the North could make a "strategic or tactical provocation" in the coming months while not giving up its nuclear and missile programs.
In his New Year message, Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also made it clear his country has no plan to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions.
Kim claimed Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The North's KN-08 road-mobile ICBM with a range of more than 10,000 kilometers is capable, in theory, of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland.
Speculation is growing that the isolated state may push ahead with major provocations this month on and around the young leader's birthday, Jan. 8, and the inauguration of Donald Trump as the new U.S. president, Jan. 20.
Regarding the planned deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, Han said the installation will go ahead as planned, downplaying calls from opposition parties to reconsider the plan.
"THAAD deployment is to better deter North Korea threats. It cannot be the subject of political debate," Han said. "The battery will be deployed as planned."
Seoul and Washington announced a decision last year to deploy the THAAD battery here this year, but the opposition bloc has been demanding the plan be reviewed after President Park Geun-hye, who strongly pushed for the deployment despite controversy, was impeached by the National Assembly, Dec. 9.
Mindful of THAAD dissenters' claim that the deployment will hurt South Korea's relations with China, Han said, "We will seek out various communication channels with China and consistently explain our position."
On the upcoming inauguration of the new U.S. government, Han said the ministry will enhance high-level personnel exchanges to stably manage key pending issues between the two countries, including defense cost-sharing and the transfer of U.S. wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces to Seoul.
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