South Korea Will Use Missiles to Destroy Northern Artillery

U.S. and South Korean F-16 Fighting Falcons demonstrate an ‘Elephant Walk’ as they taxi down the flightline at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, Dec. 14, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Fowler)

One of the greatest fears of a war with North Korea, aside from its nuclear weapons, is the proximity of massive North Korean artillery batteries to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Seoul is home to nearly 10 million people, with another 14 million or so in the surrounding region. According to Nicola Smith, writing at The Telegraph, “Worst-case scenarios predict that more than 100,000 could die within just 48 hours.”

To address this dangerous situation, the South Korean military has come up with a plan to counter the artillery threat. Smith continues:

But in a report to the National Assembly on Monday, the army presented a three-tier missile strike plan that it would deploy in the early stages of an armed conflict to destroy the North’s artillery threat, according to news agency Yonhap.

Army chiefs revealed they would first use a tactical surface-to-surface missile, called KTSSM but nicknamed ‘artillery killer’, to strike the camouflaged and embedded artillery equipment along the demilitarised zone and on the coast of border islands.

“KTSSM-I will strike the enemy’s tunnels with the 170-mm self propelled howitzers and 240-mm multiple-rocket launch systems,” read the report. The same missile would be used to attack SCUD missile facilities and 300-mm rocket launchers, it added.

The army disclosed that it also plans to fire Hyunmoo-II ballistic missiles, with a range of up to 500 miles, against the North’s nuclear and other WMD systems.

Finally, the South Korean military is seeking to acquire more powerful ballistic missiles, known as the Hyunmoo-IV, to target the pariah state’s leadership.