South Korea vows retaliatory strikes on 'heart and head' of North Korea if provoked

South Korea’s defence minister on Friday made a firm commitment to launch substantial retaliatory missile attacks on the “heart and head” of North Korea in response to any provocation.

The heightened tensions arise as both nations engage in a war of words concerning recent spy satellite launches.

The unusually strong warning from Seoul to Pyongyang unfolded as the top security advisers from South Korea, the United States, and Japan gathered in Seoul to address evolving nuclear threats and related issues posed by North Korea.

During his visit to the army’s missile strategic command, Defence Minister Shin Wonsik instructed command officers to maintain a state of readiness for deploying precision-guided and powerful missiles at a moment’s notice, according to his ministry.

Shin emphasised that the primary mission of the command is to effectively target the central and crucial areas of the adversary. The ministry’s statement highlighted that the nature of provocations may vary, but the command’s focus remains on delivering lethal strikes to the heart and head of the enemy.

Animosities between the two Koreas deepened after North Korea launched its first military reconnaissance satellite into space on 21 November in violation of UN bans. South Korea, the US and Japan strongly condemned the launch, viewing it as an attempt by the North to improve its missile technology as well as establish a space-surveillance system.

South Korea announced plans to resume front-line aerial surveillance in response. North Korea quickly retaliated by restoring border guard posts, according to Seoul officials. Both steps would breach a 2018 inter-Korean deal on easing front-line military tensions.

Last week, when South Korea also launched its first military spy satellite from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, North Korea slammed the US for alleged double standards and warned of a possible grave danger to global peace.

In a statement Friday, Jo Chol Su, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, said the North would make all available efforts to protect its national interests in the face of threats by hostile forces.

The national security advisers from South Korea, the US and Japan are to hold their first trilateral meeting in six months in Seoul on Saturday.

Ahead of the three-way meeting, South Korean national security adviser Cho Tae-yong and his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Akiba, met bilaterally on Friday and reaffirmed a need to strengthen their cooperation with the US to cope with with provocations by North Korea.

Cho and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan also met and affirmed that Seoul and Washington remain open to diplomacy with North Korea, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

Earlier Friday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry accused North Korea of property rights infringements by unilaterally using South Korean-owned equipment at a now-shuttered joint factory park in the North.

The ministry also accused North Korea of dismantling the remains of a South Korean-built liaison office at the park that the North blew up during a previous period of tensions in 2020.

With inputs from agencies