A top South Korean defense official admitted this week that Seoul has a plan in place to assassinate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
The Asia Times reported that Defense Minister Han Min-koo made the remarks Wednesday during a parliamentary meeting in the country’s capital. He was asked about rumors circulating about such a plan.
“If it becomes clear the enemy is moving to attack the South with nuclear missiles, in order to suppress its aims, the concept is to destroy key figures and areas that include the North Korean leadership,” Han said. He said Seoul is “considering launching a Special Forces unit to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.”
U.S. military experts raised concerns that Pyongyang is moving closer toward obtaining the ability to put nuclear warheads on a variety of its ballistic missiles, a growing arsenal that one day may include a reliable weapon that could reach the U.S. mainland.
North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test to date on Sept. 9, claiming it as a successful nuclear warhead detonation that proved its ability to mass produce “standardized” nuclear weapons that could be used on missiles.
Pyongyang, in response to South Korea’s reported plan, issued a statement a day later, calling the country “puppet warmongers” and saying that its “military provocations have pushed the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the uncontrollable and irreversible phase of the outbreak of nuclear war.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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