North Korea's Kim Jong Un orders annihilation of US, South Korea amid confrontation
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to ramp up weapons tests in 2024, including launching three military spy satellites, producing more nuclear materials, and developing attack drones.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his military to annihilate the US and South Korea amid a confrontation. Kim has vowed to boost national defences to “thoroughly annihilate" North Korea's two biggest rival countries.
As per the media reports, Kim is expected to ramp up weapons tests in 2024 ahead of the US presidential election in November. Last week, Kim said he would launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials, and develop attack drones in 2024.
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In a meeting on Sunday with commanding army officers, Kim said it is urgent to sharpen “the treasured sword" to safeguard national security, an apparent reference to his country’s nuclear weapons program. He cited “the US and other hostile forces’ military confrontation moves," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
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Kim stressed that “our army should deal a deadly blow to thoroughly annihilate them by mobilizing all the toughest means and potentialities without moment’s hesitation" if they opt for military confrontation and provocations against North Korea, KCNA said.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un orders military to accelerate war preparations
AP news agency, citing experts mentioned that small-scale military clashes between North and South Korea could happen this year along their heavily armed border. They say North Korea is also expected to test-launch intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the mainland US and other major new weapons.
In 2018-19, Kim met former US President Donald Trump in three rounds of talks on North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal. The diplomacy fell apart after the US rejected Kim's limited offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex in exchange for extensive reductions in US-led sanctions.
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Estimates of the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary, ranging from about 20-30 bombs to more than 100. Many foreign experts say North Korea still has some technological hurdles to overcome to produce functioning nuclear-armed ICBMs, though its shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles can reach South Korea and Japan.
South Korea staging ‘decapitation drills’ for possible assassination of Kim Jong Un
ByPublished Dec. 31, 2023South Korea admitted its military is actively conducting “decapitation drills” for the possible assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — who vowed Sunday to boost the hermit kingdom’s nuclear arsenal, build military drones and launch new spy satellites in 2024.Taking out the Hermit Kingdom’s supreme leader is an “option,” South Korean (ROK) defense minister Shin Won-sik told reporters during an interview on MBN television, according to NK News — a rare admission from Seoul leaders about an operation that hasn’t been publicly discussed for at least six years.
Asked by reporters whether assassination drills were still on the table and if US nuclear weapons could be deployed to the region, Won-sik said “both are considered options,” and added US forces have even taken part in assassination drills.
“While it is difficult to openly discuss decapitation, the ROK-US special operation forces are… conducting training,” Won-sik said.
“This training is for aerial maneuvers, raids on key facilities and indoor mop-up,” he added.
The under-the-radar drills with US Army Special Forces took place earlier in December, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is the primary target of “decapitation drills” held by the South Korean military this week KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty ImagesOn Sunday, Kim cautioned that US and South Korean policies were making war on the peninsula a “realistic reality,” and laid out military goals for the new year, including launching three new spy satellites to increase the targeting capability of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, according to state media.
“Because of reckless moves by the enemies to invade us, it is a fait accompli that a war can break out at any time on the Korean peninsula,” Kim said at a year-end address, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
US deployments of nuclear assets and drills in the region have made South Korea a “forward military base and nuclear arsenal” for America, Kim said.
Kim Jong Un ordered his miltary to use nuclear weapons to respond to any attacks during a year end address Sunday APHe ordered the North Korean military to be prepared to “pacify the entire territory of South Korea,” including with nuclear weapons in response to any attacks.
In response, South Korea promised “the Kim Jong-Un regime will face its end” with the might of the US- Korean coalition of Kim initiated any aggressions.
Assassination of Kim was last openly discussed in 2017, when former South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo announced plans to establish the “decapitation unit,” so called because it would specialize in elimination of North Korean leaders.
The units involved helicopters and planes specially designed to drop troops into North Korea under the cover of night and carry out assassinations, according to the New York Times.
South Korean special forces have been training in conjunction with US special forces for assassination missions APWhile North Korea is vocal about its weapons of mass destruction, South Korea does not maintain a nuclear stockpile by choice. One of Seoul’s best options for deterring North Korea is to keeping Kim worried, according to officials.
“The best deterrence we can have, next to having our own nukes, is to make Kim Jong-un fear for his life,” former South Korean general Shin Won-sik told the Times in 2017.
Renewed talks of the decapitation unit came just a day after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile test for the first time five months.
The missile reportedly used solid fuel, a crucial element required for nuclear-tipped missiles to reach the US from the Korean peninsula. A day before, North Korea launched a short-range missile test.
Both tests are believed to have been made in response to a meeting between US and South Korean leaders held in Washington on Dec. 15, in which both decided to conduct trainings for nuclear scenarios during joint exercises next summer.
In April, President Biden warned a North Korean attack on South Korea would “result in the end of whatever regime.”
Earlier in December, he reiterated his words, saying such an attack “will be met with a swift, overwhelming, and decisive response.”
With Post wires