Monday, October 14, 2013

JCS chief nominee vows to beef up S. Korea's defense capabilities

Admiral Choi is saying all the right things.  The ROK military and its leaders know what needs to be done.  The question is will the government resource all the requirements?  

In addition to what I think are the right comments on missile defense, nuclear deterrence, and OPCON transfer, I am especially heartened by this statement:

Choi also pledged to strike back against any provocations by North Korea, which killed 50 South Koreans in 2010 in a torpedo attack against a Navy warship and the shelling of a western border island.  

"I will strike the origin of attack as well as its command and supporting forces to stop any further provocations," Choi told lawmakers of the parliamentary defense committee. 

Although seemingly counterintuitive at the next kinetic provocation by the north, the ROK military must strike rapidly and decisively at the time and place of the provocation as ADM Choi outlines above in order to prevent escalation.  If they wait too long or strike targets deeper into north Korea that could very well be interpreted as a direct threat to the regime and cause a response we do not want.  But I believe the north actually will respect an immediate and decisive response (there  very good history of doing so in the immediate vicinity of the DMZ and the NLL where there have been significant exchanges of fire over the last 60 years that have not escalated beyond the immediate provocation).

But Admiral Choi has laid down the marker and he and the ROK military must execute decisively at the next provocation if one occurs along the lines of the Cheonan sinking or the artillery shelling of Y-P Do.
V/R
Dave

JCS chief nominee vows to beef up S. Korea's defense capabilities


Published : 2013-10-11 11:13
Updated : 2013-10-11 13:11
The nominee for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) vowed Friday to speed up major weapons programs to bolster defense capabilities, saying North Korea's missile and nuclear ambitions are posing the greatest threat to South Korean national security.

President Park Geun-hye last month appointed Adm. Choi Yun-hee to the JCS chief, marking the first time that a Navy chief has been appointed to the top commander post. His appointment is subject to parliamentary approval.

Choi said the South Korean military should speed up an upgrade of the current missile defense and acquire surveillance satellites to establish independent Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and a pre-emptive missile destruction system, the so-called "Kill Chain."

"South Korea and U.S. forces should deter North Korea from using its nuclear weapons using a joint deterrence strategy," the 59-year-old Choi said during a parliamentary confirmation hearing.

"If there is a possibility of the North using (nuclear weapons) and imminent danger, we have to launch a pre-emptive strike using the kill chain. If there's still a nuclear threat, we have to counter it using the KAMD."

South Korea currently operates 48 PAC-2 missiles imported from Germany, which have an interception rate of less than 40 percent.

As part of a mid-term defense plan, the military plans to upgrade the current system to the "hit-to-kill" PAC-3 developed by Lockheed Martin with improved guidance accuracy, and adopt military satellites and spy drones.

North Korea is believed to have more than 1,000 missiles of varying types, with most only able to target South Korea and some capable of hitting some Japanese and U.S. military bases.

Pyongyang fired off a long-range rocket last December and conducted its third atomic test in February as part of efforts to produce a nuclear warhead with a greater range. Seoul's spy agency recently confirmed that Pyongyang has restarted a 5-megawatt plutonium reactor in Yongbyon.

"Considering the nuclear development so far, I believe (North Korea) has made considerable progress in warhead miniaturization," Choi said. 
(Continued at the link below)

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