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US, South Korea working on new war plan: Report
Seoul, Jan 17: The United States and South Korea are drawing up a new contingency plan for a war in the Korean peninsula as tensions mount over North Korea`s nuclear ambitions, a newspaper here said today.
Seoul, Jan 17: The United States and South Korea are drawing up a new contingency plan for a war in the Korean peninsula as tensions mount over North Korea`s nuclear ambitions, a newspaper here said today.
The defence ministry, however, dismissed the report as speculation and said the US-South Korea combined forces command was merely engaging in routine review of existing defence planning. The Joongang daily quoted government sources as saying the combined forces were working on plans to beef up military defensive capability, especially around Seoul, just 50 km south of the demilitarised zone, the world`s most heavily fortified border.
It quoted an unidentified high-ranking South Korean official as saying General Lee Nam-Shin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Leon Laporte, commander of the US troops stationed here, had agreed to produce a new plan by the end of July. Laporte commands 37,000 US troops and under the US-South Korean military alliance, would have commanding rights over the combined forces including the South Korean military in times of war.
A spokesman of the defence ministry here said the combined forces command was merely "updating existing war plans."
However, the conservative Joongang said a new plan was likely to include the provision to the military of more multiple rocket launchers, air-to-surface missiles and anti-artillery radar systems and other sophisticated weapons, The Daily said. Bureau Report
The defence ministry, however, dismissed the report as speculation and said the US-South Korea combined forces command was merely engaging in routine review of existing defence planning. The Joongang daily quoted government sources as saying the combined forces were working on plans to beef up military defensive capability, especially around Seoul, just 50 km south of the demilitarised zone, the world`s most heavily fortified border.
It quoted an unidentified high-ranking South Korean official as saying General Lee Nam-Shin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Leon Laporte, commander of the US troops stationed here, had agreed to produce a new plan by the end of July. Laporte commands 37,000 US troops and under the US-South Korean military alliance, would have commanding rights over the combined forces including the South Korean military in times of war.
A spokesman of the defence ministry here said the combined forces command was merely "updating existing war plans."
However, the conservative Joongang said a new plan was likely to include the provision to the military of more multiple rocket launchers, air-to-surface missiles and anti-artillery radar systems and other sophisticated weapons, The Daily said. Bureau Report