S. Korean military speeds up development of Kill Chain and other response capabilities

[krzepice1976]

Increase in military strength is being moved up from mid to early 2020s due to growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats
The South Korean military recently decided to move up development of military response capabilities for the North Korean nuclear and missile threats to the early 2020s.

The measures were included in a 2018-2022 Mid-Term National Defense Plan released on Apr. 11 by the Ministry of National Defense. The plans, which serve as blueprints for construction and operation of military strength over the following five years, are announced on an annual basis.
Most notably, the ministry plans to move up the schedule for building what it bills as a “Korean-model three-axis system” to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs from the mid-2020s to the early 2020s. The system refers to three types of military measures: a Kill Chain” for a preemptive strike in response to signs of an imminent North Korean missile or nuclear weapon attack, a Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system to intercept North Korean missiles, and a Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) system for retaliating directly against the North Korean leadership in the event of a nuclear attack.

For the Kill Chain, the military plans to rent four to five intelligence satellites from overseas to monitor North Korea. The rentals are to take place for a limited time until development and operation of South Korea’s own intelligence satellites in the early 2020s. The military also plans to introduce or obtain new guided bombs, Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missiles, Hyunmoo-3 cruise missiles, and Taurus air-to-ground missiles to strike against North Korean nuclear and missile facilities.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/790847.html

 

[Navarro]

It's always interesting when a nation invests millions or billions into a weapons system, which has no practical use. That money could be allocated elsewhere, but ROK wants its Ferrari. Naturally, any attack against DPRK would be MAD for ROK. Thus, Kill Chain is irrelevant. There is however something to be said for nations which grow so powerful that the resulting arrogance leads them to be primarily a threat to themselves. If ROK should every find itself so overconfident, it may certainly test its assumptions at its convenience, but it's likely that DPRK will effectively refute those assumptions.