Featured North Korean Asymmetric Threats

[TR_123456]

North Korea claims to have tested Pukguksong-3 in waters off Wonsan, Gangwon Province, on Oct. 2, 2019. (KCNA-Yonhap)



By Choi Si-young

Published : Sept 14, 2020 - 17:51 Updated : Sept 14, 2020 - 17:51

South Korea’s nominee for defense minister, Gen. Suh Wook said Monday that North Korea is unlikely to test a submarine-launched ballistic missile around Oct. 10, given the short preparation time between now and then, when it celebrates the anniversary of the foundation of its ruling party.

“No activity involving an imminent SLBM launch is seen,” the sitting Army chief said in a written answer submitted to the parliamentary defense committee set to open a hearing Wednesday to look into Suh, who has been appointed as the new defense chief.

When asked about reports that discussed a potential SLBM launch, Suh attributed the activity in question to Pyongyang’s flood recovery effort. The North has recently seen facilities flooded nationwide by typhoons.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies said Wednesday that satellite images suggested Pyongyang may be preparing to launch a SLBM at its Sinpo South Shipyard along the east coast, though the US think tank described the evidence as inconclusive.

The North has yet to make the SLBM combat-ready. And it continues to beef up submarine capabilities, though it was hard to ascertain whether the North was able to muster technologies to come up with an advanced submarine, Suh said.

Suh added he was expecting neither a ballistic missile launch nor a nuclear test from Pyongyang in the near future.

Meanwhile, the defense chief nominee expounded on what he described as two-sided approaches in engaging the North.

“North Korea is a military threat, and at the same time, an entity with which to seek exchanges for peace and unification,” Suh said.

Suh was however a bit cautious as to whether he would reclassify the North as the “main enemy” in the biannually published white paper. The ministry reportedly took out that expression in the latest paper in 2018, when inter-Korean relations seemed rosy amid a flurry of summits.

“We’re in the middle of drafting one for 2020. We’ll look into it,” Suh said.

By Choi Si-young ([email protected])

NK unlikely to test submarine missile to mark anniversary: defense minister nominee

South Korea’s nominee for defense minister, Gen. Suh Wook said Monday that North Korea is unlikely to test a submarine-launched ballistic missile around Oct. 10, given the short preparation time between now and then, when it celebrates the anniversary of the foundation of its ruling party. “No...

www.koreaherald.com

 

[TR_123456]

Military vehicles carry missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 15, 2017. © Reuters / Sue-Lin wong / File Photo

Pyongyang is said to be constructing new submarines, one of which is capable of carrying ballistic missiles, South Korean news agency Yonhap said citing intelligence services.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service believes North Korea’s military is building two new submarines capable of firing ballistic missiles, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The South Korean military has not commented on the report. However, opposition party lawmaker Ha Tae-keung was quoted by Reuters as saying on Tuesday that one of the submarines is a modified Romeo Class and the other is a new medium-large sized one. At least one of them can carry a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the MP added.
Last month, The Republic of Korea (ROK) held an emergency meeting of the National Security Council at the presidential Blue House in Seoul where the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) new weapons were discussed.
Pyongyang showed off new armaments, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and an SLBM, during a massive military parade on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.
Military experts noted that Pyongyang’s new type of SLBM that was demonstrated during the parade appeared to be bigger in length and diameter compared with the previous Pukguksong-1 and Pukguksong-3 missiles.

N. Korea could be building 2 NEW submarines capable of firing ballistic missiles – Seoul

Pyongyang is said to be constructing new submarines, one of which is capable of carrying ballistic missiles, South Korean news agency Yonhap said citing intelligence services.

www.rt.com

 

[Saithan]

N Korean leader’s sister slams US as Biden envoys begin Asia trip - World News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister slammed the U.S. and South Korea on March 16, state media reported, as the new U.S. secretaries of state and defence began a visit to Tokyo and Seoul.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

 

[Saithan]

by Gabriel Dominguez



US Army General Paul LaCamera, the Biden administration’s nominee to be the next commander of US Forces Korea (USFK), said North Korea is not only continuing to build its nuclear programme, but is also unlikely to surrender its nuclear stockpile and production capabilities.

In a statement on policy questions submitted ahead of an 18 May hearing before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen LaCamera said North Korea “has not taken any concrete steps towards denuclearisation”, adding that he does not believe economic sanctions alone will achieve this goal.

“Economic sanctions must be combined with a whole-of-government approach, including all elements of national power and the international community, to convince the [North Korean] regime to return to meaningful negotiations,” he said. “While I do not know what will ultimately incentivise or dissuade the regime to denuclearise, maintaining a combat credible force that is regularly exercised at echelon is an essential tenet to engage North Korea from a position of strength in any discussion of incentives or disincentives.”

Gen LaCamera, who is currently the commander of US Army Pacific, said Pyongyang continues to pursue capabilities to “hold key alliance targets at risk”. For instance, he stated that North Korea showcased “newer and developmental missile … and advanced ballistic fuel systems” in 2020, noting that a total of 76 individual ballistic missile systems, some of which probably have a nuclear capability, were paraded in October of that year.

These new systems represent advanced capabilities that offer greater range and accuracy than legacy North Korean systems while shortening the missile load and launch time, said the general, who, if confirmed, will also head the Republic of Korea (RoK)-United States Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command, replacing US Army General Robert Abrams.

North Korea ‘unlikely to surrender its nuclear stockpile', says USFK commander nominee

US Army General Paul LaCamera, the Biden administration’s nominee to be the next commander of US Forces Korea (USFK), said North Korea is not only continuing to build...

www.janes.com

_______________________________

Why would they surrender their only means to effective prevent any invasion ?

 

[TR_123456]

For the first time in five years, the naval forces of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have conducted joint anti-submarine exercises near the Korean Peninsula.
They were held on Friday in international waters off the east coast, and only a day after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris had departed from South Korea just hours before the missiles were launched.
Taking part in the trilateral drills were South Korea's 4,400-ton destroyer Munmu the Great, the United States' USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, and Japan's 5,100-ton Asahi tanker among other warships.
The exercises come at a time when the three nations are looking to strengthen their security coordination in the event of further provocations by North Korea such as its seventh nuclear test or a submarine-launched ballistic missile test.

http://www.arirang.com/news/News_View.asp?nseq=308496

 

[Chocopie]

South Korea scrambles aircraft after likely North Korean drones cross border​

ROK Armed Forces failed to shoot down the intruders. One KA-1 Woongbi crashed during operation (pilots safely ejected). Poor response and performance of SK, heads must roll … national defense is compromised. Embarassing failure!

NK News report: https://www.nknews.org/2022/12/sout...fter-likely-north-korean-drones-cross-border/

Military says it fired warning shots against intrusion, while local media report one ROK jet crashed while responding
Jeongmin Kim | Shreyas Reddy December 26, 2022

SHARE
A North Korean drone that crash-landed in South Korean in 2017 | Image: ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. (Last updated at 8:06 p.m. KST with reports on drone types and flight paths)

Multiple suspected North Korean drones entered ROK airspace near the western inter-Korean border on Monday morning, according to the South Korean military, which fired warning shots and scrambled helicopters and jets to shoot them down.
One of the ROK aircraft reportedly crashed in Gangwon Province after taking off, while South Korea later flew manned and unmanned reconnaissance assets near the border and even north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in response to the unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAVs) intrusion.
“This is a clear act of provocation intruding on our airspace,” ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) operations official Lee Seung-oh said in a briefing Monday evening.

“The North Korean UAVs were small and 2 meters (6.6 feet) in size. Among these, one flew toward the northern metropolitan area, and the other four flew near Ganghwa Island,” he stated.
Among the five UAVs that South Korea detected, one was apparently a fixed-wing drone of 2 meters observed by a South Korean pilot, Yonhap News Agency reported. The military reportedly detected the other four UAVs of unknown type via radar.

The fixed-wing drone flew to airspace above northern Seoul before returning to North Korea, according to Yonhap. The outlet states that South Korea detected the other four near Ganghwa but that they later “disappeared” from ROK sensors. Some of the UAVs reportedly reached civilian residential areas.

DRONE INTRUSION
South Korean forces detected the drones in airspace near the city of Gimpo in Gyeonggi Province at around 10:25 a.m. KST, according to the ROK military. The transport ministryreportedly suspended flights at the nearby Gimpo and Incheon international airports.

Upon detecting the UAVs near the border, the ROK military conducted multiple rounds of warning broadcasts before firing the warning shots and scrambling air assets to shoot the UAVs down, Lee of JCS said Monday evening.

Citing the military, local media has reported that a KA-1 light attack aircraft that crashed at around 11:39 a.m. KST in Hoengseong, Gangwon Province on Monday was one of the assets the ROK military deployed to respond to the suspected North Korean drones.

“Also, our military deployed manned and unmanned reconnaissance assets to the area near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and area north [of border], conducting a corresponding measure to how the North Korean UAVs intruded into our airspace,” the JCS official added.
The reconnaissance assets “conducted reconnaissance and operation activities including filming the enemy’s main military facility,” he said.

The current whereabouts of the suspected North Korean UAVs remain unclear, while Yonhap reported that the ROK military failed to shoot them down despite firing around 100 rounds at the drones.

A collage of shots showing apparent drone prototypes on display at a missile expo in Pyongyang in Oct. 2021 | Image: KCTV (Oct. 12, 2021)

DPRK state media has yet to report on the drones involved, but Kim Jong Un prioritized new unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems with ranges of 310 miles (500 kilometers) in his military development “wish list” during last year’s Eighth Party Congress. If successfully developed, such aircraft can reach South Korea’s southernmost region of Jeju island.

A North Korean drone is last known to have crossed the border into ROK airspace in June 2017, when locals reported the discovery of a small flight vehicle in Inje, Gangwon Province. The drone had captured photos of Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province, where the U.S.-made THAAD anti-missile system is deployed.

The South Korean military subsequently confirmed that the drone flew over from the North’s Kumgang County to collect “military intelligence,” but crashed due to an engine malfunction and fuel shortage before it could make its way back across the border.

 

[Umigami]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1607811816578768896

Don't you guys have iron dome?

 

[Chocopie]

No, they‘re developing an Iron Dome-style low-altitude missile defense (LAMD) system. In my opinion it‘s a pipe dream: DPRK artillery shells and rockets can over-saturate any defense system easily. Not comparable with Hamas arsenal …

LIG Nex1 to Develop South Korean Version of Iron Dome

LIG Nex1 announced on Nov. 16 that it has signed a comprehensive contract with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) for exploratory development of a long-r

www.businesskorea.co.kr

 

[Chocopie]

Now they‘re staging PR anti-drone drills with the same assets that failed to shoot down the NK drones at first place. The new conservative President is a douchebag promising a new anti-drone unit when there was already one installed by the previous administration.

Fact is: ROK Armed Forces leadership had no real defense plan against low flying, low speed, pre-programmed small NK drones. Politically hand-picked ROK career generals sat on their hands not keeping up with modern drone warfare. Time to wake up!

South Korea stages drills simulating downing of North drones

The drills near Seoul set up diverse scenarios of border infiltrations by small enemy drones.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Umigami]

No, they‘re developing an Iron Dome-style low-altitude missile defense (LAMD) system. In my opinion it‘s a pipe dream: DPRK artillery shells and rockets can over-saturate any defense system easily. Not comparable with Hamas arsenal …

LIG Nex1 to Develop South Korean Version of Iron Dome

LIG Nex1 announced on Nov. 16 that it has signed a comprehensive contract with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) for exploratory development of a long-r

www.businesskorea.co.kr

Maybe you can hunt their launcher and gun to minimize incoming rocket / shell

 

[Chocopie]

Rocket artillery are mobile, big caliber artillery are stationed on rails in bunkers deep in mountains. Satellite, radar and reconnaissance drone observation than killing off with air launched bunker busters are planned.

The Iron Dome-style defense is thought for the defense of first surprisal barrages.

 

[Agram]

North Korea Launches Four “Hwasal-2” LACMs to Show Strong Deterrence and Rapid Response | 38 North​

 

[Agram]

North Korea launched two strategic submarine launched cruise missiles with range of 1500 kilometers.

로동신문

조선로동당 중앙위원회기관지

rodong.rep.kp