South Korea and the US must JOIN FORCES to ‘cope’ with Kim Jong-un, claims Korean MP
SOUTH Korea and the US should join forces to “better cope” with threats posed by North Korea, a Korean defence chief has stressed.
The comments made by Han Min-goo, the South Korean defence chief, were backed by South Korea’s national Marine Corps amid fears of another nuclear test by Pyongyang.
A spokesperson for the Marine Corps said: “If the North attacks us with rockets, we will respond with our own MLRS.
“And we will defeat the North’s artillery attacks with the K-9 self-propelled howitzers.”
Last year, Seoul and Washington launched a military division to defend their countries from North Korean threats.
The two units carried out normal duties in their assigned areas, but merged into a single unit led by a US general in times of crisis.
The Korean defence minister’s comments were made days after South Korean ministers signed an agreement with Japanese ministers to share intelligence information on North Korea.
The General Security of Military Information Agreement was expected to have been signed at the end of 2012, but due to political opposition in South Korea, it was delayed.
During his first visit to a South Korean Brigade in Dongducheon, Min-koo felt it was important to emphasise the need for military support as the Brigade was located in South Korea’s most powerful military region.
South Korea is set to conduct several more drills until the end of December.
It comes as Kim Jong-un continues to issue threats that his nation is ready to deploy nuclear weapons.
The hermit state has already carried out two nuclear tests this year alone along with numerous missile tests, which has seen rockets land close to Japan.