Syed Nasir Ershad

The South Korean defence ministry is reportedly drafting a new plan to thwart a full-fledged North Korean military offensive and occupy Pyongyang within weeks without waiting for US troop reinforcements. They vowed to formulate an aggressive wartime action plan led by our military. The gist of the plan is the mobilisation of airborne troops and Marines to infiltrate Pyongyang to quickly bring down the North Korean regime. In the event of an invasion from the North, they are planning to engage in an aggressive, deep-offensive operation inside North Korea. The ultimate aim is to keep any war as brief as possible. It also includes pre-emptive strikes against North Korean nuclear weapons and missile bases.These reports come after South Korea responded to the North’s missile launch over Japan earlier today with an aggressive show of overwhelming force, conducting a live-fire drill near the border between the two countries. Seoul’s presidential spokesman said four F-15 fighters dropped eight MK-84 bombs – each with the explosive yield of a ton – that accurately hit targets at a military field on the eastern coast. The South Korean air force said the exercise was aimed at sharpening the military’s ability to completely destroy the enemy’s leadership.
Japan’s military also kicked off the drill of antimissile batteries at the US bases following North Korea’s ballistic missile launch. According to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, the Japan Air Self Defense Force carried out the planned exercises at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo and at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in western Japan.
South Korea also launched rare footage of its own tests on new ballistic missiles last week. They claimed that their military has the missile capability with top-level precision and power to strike any place in North Korea if necessary. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting over the issue of the missile launch.
South Korean high official said that sending the missile over Japan was a whole new level of grave provocation. The situation is very grave. North Korea fired a missile again in just two days. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled around 2,700 kilometres and reached a maximum height of 550 kilometres as it flew over Hokkaido.
Earlier, Mr Abe condemned the launch as an unprecedented, serious and grave threat as he called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting. Mr Abe vowed to enhance pressure on the nuclear-armed state as tensions spike over Pyongyang’s weapons development ambitions. They have protested to North Korea. Calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, he said Japan would strongly call for increased pressure on North Korea in co-operation with the international community.
North Korea launched the missile in a particularly aggressive test flight that dramatically escalated the missile crisis concerning the rogue regime. The Japanese government said the missile had landed in the Sea of Japan, while national broadcaster NHK reported it had flown directly over the northern island of Hokkaido before breaking into three pieces and falling into waters 1180km east of the island.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary said today’s missile launch posed the most serious and grave threat ever to them and was a clear violation of United Nations resolutions. He strongly said that they cannot tolerate those kind of repeated provocations by the North.
The North Korean regime continues recklessly to threaten the peace and stability of the region, and indeed the world. The Australian government condemned the missile launch in the strongest terms and called on China to use its economic leverage to control Pyongyang. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the launch was threatening and dangerous. Early and unsubstantiated projections of the missile’s flight path suggests it may have flown near Japan’s ski resorts Niseko and Rusetsu that are popular with Australians.
The missile was fired from the vicinity of Sunan in Pyongyang at 5:57am local time and flew east, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. It passed through the sky over Japan. The missile flew around 2700km. Japan’s J-Alert warning system advised people in the area to take precautions and shelter in their basements early on Tuesday, but NHK said there was no sign of damage. The Japanese military did not attempt to shoot down the missile, which passed over its territory around 6:06am local time.
The JCS said it is analysing the launch with the United States and also that South Korea’s military has strengthened its monitoring and preparation in case of further actions from North Korea. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson condemned the missile launch, tweeting he was outraged at the reckless provocation by NorthKorea.
The latest Pyongyang provocation came days after it launched three short-range ballistic missiles. North Korea has conducted a series of test launches to develop its missile capability and recently threatened to send missiles over western Japan and into waters near the US territory of Guam. Japan’s military is practising deploying antimissile batteries at three US bases in Japan. The US military says the drills will test the ability of Japanese and US forces to work together and assess firing locations at the bases. They will also allow Japan to practice rapid deployment of its antimissile system. The missile was fired as North Korea tried to take its complaints about US and South Korean military exercises to the UN Security Council, saying the annual manoeuvers are recklessly provocative at a time of tension. A letter from Pyongyang, dated Friday, asks Egypt as Security Council president to schedule a discussion urgently.