Wednesday, April 26, 2017

US Strike on North Korea Could Put Seoul in Jeopardy

Thousands of North Korean artillery shells raining down on Seoul. Hundreds of tons of high explosives detonating in the densely populated South Korean capital. Missile strikes as far away as Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.


These are just some of the possible consequences U.S. and South Korean military planners must take into account as they consider a pre-emptive strike to halt Pyongyang's steady advances toward developing an offensive nuclear capability.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly said it is finished with its predecessor's policy of “strategic patience” toward North Korea, suggesting the possibility of military action to prevent the North from developing a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Adding military muscle to the rhetoric, a U.S. submarine designed to carry 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles entered a South Korean port on Tuesday. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group is also heading to the region and conducting naval exercises with Japan and South Korea. And the United States this week began to move part of the THAAD missile defense system to its deployment site 250 kilometers south of Seoul.

Rain of fire

But analysts say there are high risks associated with any U.S. first strike. A surgical U.S. missile strike to take out one or multiple nuclear or missile sites would likely not be sufficient to destroy or degrade North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals, which are reportedly in numerous fortified underground sites across the country.

But a U.S. preventive strike would almost certainly trigger an immediate North Korean retaliation against South Korea.............http://www.voanews.com/a/us-strike-on-north-korea-could-put-seoul-in-jeopardy/3826065.html
 [voanews.com]
26/4/17

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