North Korea launched its Hwasong-15 ICBM into the waters west of Japan at 3:17 am local time on Wednesday. Barely six minutes later, South Korean artillery, air force, and Navy sprang into action and began firing missiles into the waters off eastern Korea - yet another military show of force meant to intimidate the North into ceasing its missile strikes.
The retaliatory display was calibrated to target a spot in the waters off the Korean peninsula that was exactly as far away as Pyongsong, a town about 20 miles north of Pyongyang where the Hwasong 15 was reportedly launched. The distance was meant to signify that the South Korean military could destroy the North’s missile launchers if it chose to do so, the Wall Street Journal.
But detecting missile tests is an imperfect science, involving misses as well as hits. In a conflict situation, North Korea is likely to take more steps to conceal its movements, for instance by deploying decoy launchers, said Yang Uk, senior defense researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a Seoul think tank.
In such a scenario, the likelihood falls that South Korean, U.S. or Japanese forces would pinpoint the exact launch site, Mr. Yang said. Still, he viewed the South’s response to the missile test as a success, especially considering the short time the military needed to return fire.
The retired military official also noted that the South has a network of human intelligence in the North that may have tipped off Seoul officials about this week’s launch. He declined to give further details, citing security concerns.
Details on the South’s spy network in the North remain murky, but local media have reported in recent months that the South has lost most of its human network in North Korea in recent years.
Should war break out on the peninsula, an elite South Korean special operations force may be dispatched to take out Kim Jong Un, according to South Korean media.
South Korea’s Special Warfare Command established a “decapitation unit” Friday to eliminate the North Korean leadership, should a conflict again arise. The new unit is modeled after the U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force, SEAL Team Six and the Green Berets, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
The South Korean military initially planned to have this force become operational in 2019, but the accelerated pace of North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development led South Korea to establish the so-called “decapitation unit” early.
South Korea has been talking about building such an elite special operations unit for years.
“We will develop asymmetric strategies that give us a comparative advantage over the North, like psychological warfare, decapitation operations, intelligence advantage and precision strike capabilities,” a South Korean brigadier general said in 2015.
South Korea’s “decapitation unit” is now operational and ready to do what is necessary should North Korea decide to wage war against the U.S. and its allies. The new special operations force will be incorporated into South Korea’s broader defensive strategies, such as the Kill Chain, Korea Air and Missile Defense system, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.
South Korea has not kept its ambitions secret, suggesting that this is part of a plan to keep the already-paranoid Kim Jong Un on edge.
Kim has reportedly boosted his personal security, and North Korea has reportedly developed its own special “decapitation strike” unit. The North’s Unit 525 was created to “wipe out human scum” in South Korea, a reference to South Korean leaders. Kim personally inspected the unit in November of last year.
ISIS released a statement stating that there will be “Christmas blood” this holiday season and presented an image of an ISIS vehicle heading towards St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. What else does this mean but that these Islamic terrorists are anti-Christian, and more specifically, anti-Catholic? According to one report, written by Jeffery Treistman, from the Hill:
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has recently issued a series of threats against Christians corresponding to the upcoming Christmas holiday season.
The group published a propaganda poster calling upon its followers to attack the Vatican on Christmas. The poster reads “Christmas Blood” and features a jihadist driving a car towards St. Peter’s Basilica. Last week ISIS issued an additional threat to attack Christmas markets in Europe, with some of their disturbing imagery depicting Santa Claus with his hands bound and a jihadist standing behind him.
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