Missiles Aimed at South Korean Cities

Updated July.3,2007 11:09 KST   Missiles Aimed at South Korean Cities

U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Burwell Bell said in a speech at the National Press Center in Seoul, “North Korea last Wednesday conducted testing of advanced short range missiles -- missiles specifically designed to attack (South) Korea, its armed forces, and its citizens.” He added, “these missiles, in general, appear to be performing as they are designed." Bell said the new missiles were upgraded versions of the old surface-to-surface class of missiles code-named "Frog" and use solid fuel, which means they are easy to move and launch rapidly. Bell said they could reach not only Seoul but other cities south of the capital due to their extended range. Surface-to-surface missiles are far more effective than surface-to-ship ones. Officials say this missile is the KN-02, which has an effective range of 120km and is equipped with inertial navigation devices making them more accurate. Some are even raising the possibility that the missiles may not be the KN-02, but an entirely new one. An effective range of 120 km puts not only Korean military installations, but the central U.S. military headquarters in Pyeongtaek within its kill zone. As Bell said, if the missiles are highly mobile and capable of being fired rapidly, U.S. troops may have a tough time locating and destroying them. And if North Korea becomes capable of mounting these missiles with bio-chemical warheads, the threat becomes even greater. Some South Korean officials are claiming that conventional North Korean weapons no longer pose a threat, due to the deployment of superior weapons in the South Korean military. But despite its severe economic limitations, North Korea is building up its military, specializing in nuclear and bio-chemical weapons, as well as long, mid and short-range missiles, special operations troops and long-range artillery. All of these are potentially fatal threats to South Korea. Long-range artillery can wreak tremendous destruction in the capital region over a short period of time, while missiles can simultaneously attack key military and civilian facilities in South Korea, including atomic power plants. North Korean special forces, numbering 100,000, have been described by one U.S. military official as being “the biggest threat.” Until now, U.S. troops have been tasked with responding to this threat. That’s because extensive intelligence and the ability to deliver massive yet surgical attacks were necessary. But as a result of pushing for the dismantlement of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, this task has fallen into the hands of the South Korean military. Nobody knows when the South Korean military will reach the level of technology to handle that responsibility and how much money it will take to achieve that. It remains to be seen what this government will say now. Until now, all it has done was to take a dangerously-complacent view of North Korea’s destructive power.