The plan, expected to cost about $460 billion, calls for "stemming and eliminating to the maximum degree" threats posed by North Korea's military capabilities, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.
Yonhap quoted an unnamed senior official involved in the development of the defense plan as saying, "If it becomes clear that North Korea is moving to hit us with nuclear and missile arsenal, we will hit its bases as quickly as possible to prevent launches no matter where they are."
Most of the new aspects of the plan involved upgrades in equipment and technology. South Korea said it would have 28 army divisions, unless an emergency develops, in which case an additional 10 divisions of reserves would be called upon. There would be a reduction in the number of active-duty personnel.
However, Seoul is looking to substantially increase its hardware, including artillery deemed necessary to stop a potential North Korean long-range bombardment from just north of the demilitarized zone.
South Korean defense officials are also looking to add intelligence-gathering assets, including satellites, early warning aircraft and unmanned drones. Improvements in missile defense systems are planned.
The South Korean Defense Ministry said it may upgrade its antimissile capability with the PAC-3 missile interceptor system, made by U.S. company Lockheed Martin, and SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, manufactured by Raytheon, another U.S. company. Those are part of a system designed to thwart incoming missile attacks.
South Korea also wants to talk to us about building longer-range missiles so that no launch site in North Korea is safe from South Korean strikes:
The United States is open to talks on the possibility of South Korea developing ballistic missiles capable of striking all of North Korea, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said Tuesday.
A senior general at the U.S. command in Seoul told aides to South Korean lawmakers last week the allies can discuss the revision of a 2001 accord barring the South from developing missiles with a range of more than 186 miles (300 kilometers), the ministry official said.
I suspect that simply bombarding the North Koreans from south of the DMZ won't cut it and that South Korea will need to carve a no-launch zone north of the DMZ with their ground forces if they wish to protect Seoul from the numerous conventional artillery pieces looming over their capital city.
