South Korea will establish a strategic command by 2024 to oversee the country’s preemptive strike strategy and the assets to execute it, the Defense Ministry said during a meeting with the newly elected president.
During a July 6 seminar led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, the ministry discussed key defense policies meant to counter the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles, including the Kill Chain strategy and well as more efficient efforts to develop defense capabilities.
The ministry said the strategic command, which would fall under the purview of the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, is to integrate and efficiently operate all South Korean armed forces’ strategic weapons systems, currently controlled by each military branch individually. The command would also give the orders to subordinate military assets to strike enemy targets or intercept hostile missiles as part of the Kill Chain strategy and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.
Kill Chain is a preemptive strike strategy that the South Korean military would implement against key North Korean military facilities, such as missile silos, when intelligence organizations confirm an imminent attack. KMPR involves the use of ballistic missiles and highly explosive weapons against an offensive nuclear attack. Its purpose is essentially the total destruction of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.
The units and capabilities that would fall under the forthcoming strategic include:
- The Army’s Missile and Strategic Command, which operates Hyunmoo ballistic missiles.
- The Air Force’s Missile Defense Command, which operates PAC-3 anti-air missiles, F-35A fighter jets and Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.
- The Navy’s 3000-ton submarines that feature sub-launched ballistic missiles.
- Military surveillance satellites.
- Cyberwarfare- and space-focused forces.
The military is also expected to adjust the duties of the Army’s Missile and Strategic Command and the Air Force’s Missile Defense Command.