South Korea said it will pulverize Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, with stupendous artillery fire and ballistic missiles should the communist country show unmistakable signs it's about to launch nuclear missiles at it.
The declaration of a new pre-emptive strike concept called "Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation" is a radical departure from South Korea's current defensive strategy that cedes the offensive advantage to North Korea. It comes a scant two days after North Korea carried out its fifth and most powerful nuclear test.
South Korea also revealed the north is making preparations for a sixth nuclear test, probably within the year. The north is also expected to test more of its new ballistic missiles before the year ends.
Seoul worries the stepped-up pace of the north's missile testing and its admission the latest nuclear test gives it the capability to produce "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power" might embolden the north to strike first before the U.S. fully deploys its THAAD anti-ballistic missiles starting the end of this year.
THAAD or the Terminal High Altitude Terminal Defense System is an anti-ballistic missile system designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles such as those being tested by North Korea.
The immediate targets of South Korea's massive pre-emptive attack will be North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the country's military leadership, said South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in a report to the National Assembly, the country's unicameral national legislature.
To ensure the destruction of the north's leadership, the Republic of Korea Army will organize a special commando unit whose task will be to destroy the North Korean military leadership.
The new operational concept by the Defense Ministry will also apply in the event of a non-nuclear war should there be clear signs an invasion of the south is imminent.
"Every Pyongyang district, particularly where the North Korean leadership is possibly hidden, will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosive shells as soon as the North shows any signs of using a nuclear weapon," said Korean media.
"In other words, the North's capital city will be reduced to ashes and removed from the map."
The new concept is "the utmost operation concept the military can have in the absence of its own nuclear weapons," according to media.
As part of the new operational concept, South Korea also plans to use its indigenous surface-to-surface ballistic missile arsenal, including the Hyunmoo-2A, -2B and Hyunmoo-3 (a new cruise missile) to bombard the north.
The Hyunmoo, which carries a 480 kg warhead, is the only ballistic missile developed and deployed by South Korea. The 2A has a range of 300 km; the 2B, 500 km and the 3, 1,000 kilometers.