‘U.S. and South Korea may be annihilated in the blink of an eye’ – North Korea
JH Ahn
The North Korean military on Monday warned of “physical measures” to turn future South Korean sites for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the U.S. made missile defense system, into a “sea of fire” and a “pile of ash.”
The North Korean announcement, which was reported through its state-owned Rodong Sinmun and Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), was released three days after Washington and Seoul made the decision for THAAD to be deployed in South Korea, though a specific location has yet to be decided.“The day when the South Korean site for the THAAD deployment – the U.S.’ aggressive weapon system aimed for world domination – is confirmed, our physical measures will follow, on the moment of confirmation, to completely suppress the system,” the Artillery Bureau of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff said.
“By making the decision to deploy America’s THAAD system, South Korean puppets have only moved up the time of their miserable self-destruction which will be caused by our merciless thunderbolt.”
The final decision to deploy THAAD, the controversial U.S.-made missile defense system, to South Korea was made and announced by both the U.S. and South Korean governments last Friday.
The system is reported to have the capability to intercept North Korea’s ballistic missiles, which could possibly be equipped with nuclear warheads, at higher-altitudes compared to current missile defense systems in South Korea such as the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2), lessening the chance of North Korean missile striking South Korea, should such an attack happen.
But the North Korean statement stated that all of North Korea weapons, including its recent launches of Hwasong-10 (a.k.a. Musudan) intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM), are “righteous self-defense measures” taken against the U.S., who – in North Korean words – is threatening North Korea’s autonomy, dignity, peace and security.
“Our revolutionary military will enhance our capability of defending peace and security of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and the world,” read the statement, “to punish the world’s injustice, our self-defensive measures will ceaselessly continue on until the U.S. and its followers are completely annihilated.”
A South Korean researcher raised the need to look beyond the North’s rhetoric.
“The ‘physical measures’ they are talking about would not likely be the direct attack on the site for the deployment of THAAD,” Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean naval officer and researcher at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies told NK News.
“There is high chance that KPA’s Artillery Bureau will conduct a variety of weapon tests – such as multiple rocket launcher (MRL), KN-02 (short-range missile), or other form of short-range missile tests to simulate striking THAAD site – to emphasize that their weapon systems can’t be intercepted even after the deployment of the system.”
NK News Director of Intelligence John Grisafi said the message is a reminder of the North’s military capabilities, not all of which can be addressed by THAAD.
“Though likely just rhetoric, it is an example of North Korea trying to remind its adversaries of the varied means at its disposal to conduct military actions against the South,” said Grisafi.
“While recently the North has conducted and publicized numerous missile tests, when South Korea and USFK decided to deploy a missile defense system, North Korea is making a point to remind them of its long-range artillery, against which THAAD would not be effective.”
Grisafi said that North Korea may again choose to show off its long-range artillery capabilities.
“In the past year or so, we’ve seen the North test and otherwise show its 300mm MRL, which has a maximum range of about 200 kilometers,” said Grisafi. “We could see further demonstrations of this and other long-range artillery soon.”
Two days after the final decision on THAAD was made, North Korea on Sunday conducted a launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), which a South Korean expert described as “meant to ridicule South Korea” for the decision made on THAAD.
