In the event that the 'bellicose rhetoric' of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turns into something more serious, the opening hours of conflict could be 'pretty ugly,' defense analysts warn.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a meeting of information workers of the whole army at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, March 28, 2013.
KCNA/REUTERS
EnlargeVeteran North Korea watchers, citing what they see as increasingly troubling signs coming from the dictatorial regime, are voicing concerns that its new young leader, Kim Jong-un, could do something ill-advised, even start a war.
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On Friday North Korea renewed what the U.S. has condemned as its ?bellicose rhetoric,? saying Kim had ordered the nation?s missile forces to prepare to strike the United States and South Korea.
In response to the prospect of North Korea following through on this and other marginally less dire threats, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the US military ?will unequivocally defend, and [is] unequivocally committed to the alliance with, South Korea.?
But if hostilities were in fact to erupt, how might they play out?
Some former US Special Operations Forces and longtime Korea defense analysts have their own thoughts on what an ?unequivocal? US military response could look like, including how US troops would be deployed in the event of a lethal first strike on US and allied military forces by North Korea ? precisely the sort of move Mr. Kim has been threatening to make.
What would such a first North Korean move resemble? It might involve small-scale infiltrations using mini-submarines, assassination attempts, ?maybe shooting someone on the DMZ [demilitarized zone] or missile tests that fly too close over Japan,? says Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
This might be done ?to show he?s in charge, he won?t be intimidated, or because he?s truly desperate,? Dr. Cronin says.
In the past, most such provocations generally have been met with international condemnation and strengthened sanctions.
Should Kim choose to do ?something even more outlandish,? the US military and South Korean response would be more dire, he adds.
One of the scenarios that most concerns US defense analysts, for example, involves North Korea?s estimated 500,000 to 700,000 rounds of artillery aimed at Seoul, says retired Brig. Gen. Russell Howard, former commander of the 1st Special Forces Group, which has an Asia focus.?
Should Kim decide to begin firing them, he says, ?in the first few hours of the conflict, it would be pretty ugly.?
At the same time, North Korea could begin ?swarming? its sizable contingent of 600,000 Special Operations commandos, adds Mr. Howard, now the director of the Terrorism, Research, and Education Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.?
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