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March 13, 2023
SEOUL North Korea has identified important practical steps for the offensive use of its "war deterrent" at a key military meeting ahead of the longest-running military exercise between South Korea and the United States.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called an extended meeting of the 8th Central Military Council of the Workers' Party of Korea, state North Korean media reported on Sunday without a date for the meeting.
“At the enlarged meeting, important practical steps were discussed and decisions were made on the more effective use of deterrents to war in the country and their forceful and offensive use in response to the current situation, when military provocations from the United States and South Korea are momentarily approaching a serious red flag. line. According to a Korean-language state media report. He did not specify the measures.
The results of the military meeting were released a day before South Korea and the US were due to begin their annual defense-focused Freedom Shield exercise on Monday. This year, the Freedom Shield will be held for 11 non-weekend days — the longest consecutive period — to allow South Korean and U.S. forces to better prepare for real-world scenarios in light of the changing security environment and escalating missile and nuclear threats from the north. . . Korea.
“North Korea will take decisive offensive practical measures to meet force with force during the period of military exercises between South Korea and the United States,” said Professor Yang Mu Jin. at the University of North Korean Studies, who also noted the connection between the meeting and a recent statement made on March 7 by North Korean leader Kim Yo-jong's influential sister.
Kim Yo-jong warned that North Korean forces "remain always ready for appropriate, swift and overwhelming action at any time" against South Korea and the United States.
Yang said that "North Korea will focus on discussing various missile launches and conducting military exercises in response to South Korean and US military exercises."
North Korea will choose military options to effectively defeat South Korea and the US, experts said, as allies stepped up field exercises involving US strategic assets to boost their deterrence and readiness to escalate North Korean threats.
Lim Eul-chul, professor of North Korean studies at Gyeongnam University in Seoul, said "there is a high possibility that North Korea will demonstrate its military deterrence in new and much more outrageous ways so as not to lose the initiative" on the Korean peninsula. . .
“In terms of important practical steps, it is expected that North Korea will increasingly rely on the combat capabilities of nuclear forces, such as newly developed strategic and tactical guided weapons capable of demonstrating maximum deterrence at minimum cost,” Lim said, referring to the latest missile. . works as an example.
On March 9, North Korea fired a salvo of six short-range ballistic missiles from the western port city of Nampo towards the West Sea. This comes after South Korea and the United States conducted joint air exercises in early March in South Korean airspace. mobilization of US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers; MQ-9 Reaper, hunter unmanned aerial vehicle; and the B-52 strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
North Korean state media reported the next day that the country's Hwaseong artillery unit was practicing a simultaneous strike against air bases inside South Korea with what the country called "a new type of tactical guided weapon."
Pyongyang is expected to resume saber-rattling as South Korea and the US intend to resume theater field exercises, or FTX, after a five-year hiatus. FTX, dubbed Warrior Shield, will return to the scale of the now-defunct Foal Eagle exercise.
South Korea and the United States have agreed to conduct about 20 field exercises, including large-scale amphibious operations, on the occasion of Exercise Freedom Shield.
Washington will also deploy its strategic facilities on the Korean Peninsula in accordance with its commitment to enhance the US's extended deterrence. The Allies have discussed holding a naval exercise involving the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world, later this month. South Korea, the US and Japan have also discussed their plan to conduct missile defense exercises, possibly involving a US Navy nuclear submarine armed with subsonic Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Professor Yang predicts that "the powerful and aggressive practical steps announced by North Korea will be translated into action, especially at a time when US strategic assets are being deployed for military exercises with South Korea."
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