尹 presides over meeting an hour and a half following North Korea’s first provocation… Government condemns “North Korea’s grave provocation”
South Korea and the United States respond to a coalition of four military diplomacy measures… Launch one missile at a time into the East Sea
F-15K 30s ‘Elephant Walk’ unveiled… Cooperate to adopt ‘New Security Council sanctions on North Korea’ as soon as possible
President Yun Seok-yeol held an emergency National Security Council (NSC) meeting shortly following North Korea’s ballistic missile launch on the 25th and ordered, “Implement the practical measures agreed between the leaders of the Republic of Korea and the United States, such as strengthening the combined defense posture and the ability to execute extended deterrence.” In response to North Korea’s provocations crossing the red line of ‘mixing firing’ of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), South Korea and the United States raised the level of response by firing surface-to-surface missiles and activating combined forces on the same day.
○ South Korea and the US “joint response through four military and diplomatic measures”
According to the National Security Office, high-ranking government officials, including President Yun, detected signs of North Korea’s missile launch in advance and prepared for it from the 24th. North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the East Sea three times at 6 am, 6:37 am, and 6:42 am on the 25th.
President Yun’s decision to convene and preside over the NSC was made just before North Korea’s second missile launch. President Yoon presided over the NSC for 1 hour and 3 minutes from 7:35 am to 8:38 a.m. on the same day, saying, “Maintain the readiness posture at all times to ensure that there are no gaps in the security of the Republic of Korea. Implement practical measures such as strengthening the defense posture.” It emphasized the implementation of the extended deterrence agreed upon at the South Korea-US summit with President Joe Biden on the 21st.
In a government statement issued separately following the NSC, it was emphasized that “North Korea’s continued provocations will inevitably lead to a stronger and more rapid joint deterrence between the ROK and the United States.” In a statement issued in the name of the government on the same day, the presidential office defined North Korea’s missile launch as an ‘illegal act’ and a ‘serious provocation’.
The South Korean and American authorities also launched a combined response with four military and diplomatic measures. In the morning of that day, the South Korean military fired a Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile and the US military launched a tactical short-range missile ATACMS (ATACMS) into the East Sea. On the 24th, it also released a video of the ‘Elephant Walk’ training, in which 30 F-15K fighters clustered on the runway following detecting signs of North Korea’s ballistic missile provocation in advance.
The diplomatic lines between the two countries also moved closely. National Security Director Kim Seong-han, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Foreign Minister Park Jin, and U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln spoke on the phone respectively. During the phone call, the foreign ministers of the two countries agreed to work closely together for the prompt adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution on North Korea.
Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the National Security Office, said, “The Yun Seok-yeol administration’s three principles for North Korea’s military action are ‘I will describe the projectile accurately’, ‘I will show that when there is a military action (North Korea), corresponding measures must be followed’, ‘ “We will practice and manage these actions through the ROK-U.S. military cooperation posture,” he said.
○ Strategic asset deployment on the Korean Peninsula is likely to be discussed
As President Yoon gave an order to implement the expansion deterrence measures agreed between the leaders of the Republic of Korea and the United States on the same day, discussions regarding the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula are expected to begin in earnest. As for US strategic assets, the three major US strategic bombers (B-1B, B-52, and B-2) that are capable of conventional and nuclear weapons are first mentioned. In October 2017, when the North Korean nuclear and missile threat reached its peak, a B-1B bomber called the ‘swan of death’ crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea and deployed to the vicinity of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in Gilju-gun, North Hamgyong Province, and staged an armed demonstration. have. “The deployment of strategic assets, such as US fighters capable of delivering nuclear weapons, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, is also included in the executive power of expanded deterrence, but there are no plans at this time,” Kim said.
Reporter Jangseok [email protected]
Reporter Shin Shin-jin [email protected]