JCS: "North Korea's Provocations and Dialogue Possibilities Coexist for Phase Transition"

On the 6th, Won In-cheol, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the National Assembly National Defense Committee's audit of the Joint Chiefs of Staff held at the Joint Chiefs of Staff building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and took the witness oath. Photo by the National Assembly Press Corps

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] North Korea has established a five-year weapons development plan and is developing hypersonic weapons, which could have a significant impact on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated in the National Defense Committee's National Assembly audit report on the 6th, "We will develop deterrence and response strategies through a reassessment of North Korea and the regional strategic environment," and added, "We will supplement the joint military strategy reflecting the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea and the intensifying US-China competition."

Won In-chul, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also assessed during the audit, "As North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities are becoming increasingly advanced, the military threats and arms race among surrounding major powers are also intensifying, making the situation more complex and severe than ever."

As part of the five-year plan, North Korea conducted four test launches last month alone, including long-range cruise missiles, the ‘Yeolcha’ (Train) ballistic missile, hypersonic missiles, and surface-to-air missiles.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also evaluated that "North Korea is in a situation where military provocations aimed at changing the phase and the possibility of dialogue coexist," and "it is facing various difficulties such as border closures and worsening economic hardships due to COVID-19."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that they will develop a tailored deterrence strategy between South Korea and the US in response to North Korea's enhanced nuclear and missile capabilities.

In this regard, they explained plans to publish the joint 4D operation guidelines and revise the nuclear and WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) response strategy. The military has established the ‘4D operation concept,’ which signifies overall capability improvements in the areas of Detect, Disrupt, Destroy, and Defend to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the 46th Korea-US Military Committee (MCM) meeting will be held in Seoul at the end of next month. The MCM is an annual high-level meeting between the two countries' militaries to provide strategic directives and operational guidelines to the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, and the results of the meeting will be reported at the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held shortly thereafter in Seoul.

On the other hand, the previous day's Ministry of National Defense audit was ultimately canceled after nearly 10 hours of confrontation between ruling and opposition lawmakers in the National Defense Committee over a ‘picket protest’ demanding a special prosecutor investigation into the ‘Daejang-dong scandal,’ but the Joint Chiefs of Staff audit proceeded as scheduled that day.

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