Shin Won-sik, 'Kim Jong-un's removal is suppression' North Korea's air defense network 'independent test of dismantling'
Shin Won-sik, the director of the National Security Office, said that the 'Kim Jong-un removal suppression strategy is stability' and revealed the 'Korea's independent strategy' of the 'dismantling test' regarding the North Korean air defense network.
Regarding the 'elimination suppression strategy', Director Shin said, "Traditionally (in war) the factors are whether North Korea is sufficiently prepared for war, whether South Korea maintains the integration to properly respond to North Korea's war, and whether the ROK-US alliance is sound," and added, "The ROK-US alliance is currently sound and South Korea is strong as an advanced country," showing the operation of the 'separated Korea's independent strategy' in the ROK-US alliance strategy.
Regarding the North Korean Rodong Sinmun's report on the drone infiltration, Director Shin appeared on TV Chosun on the 12th and stated, "I think they made this public because they strategically judged that the benefit of taking advantage of the opportunity to threaten the regime is greater than the loss of admitting that Pyongyang's air defense network was breached."
On the 13th, Director Shin appeared on KBS and said, “North Korea is a dynastic state different from a normal state, and the North Korean people are brainwashed to support their leader with a gun-and-bomb mentality,” and added, “We must have the ability to safely eliminate Kim Jong-un. The forces under the recently established Strategic Command are doing that,” and added, “When a general strategic deterrence is combined with a strategy targeting the North Korean leadership in line with the characteristics of North Korea as a dynastic state, the completeness of deterrence that can suppress North Korea’s actions is established.”
Director Shin continued by saying that North Korea’s extensive propaganda of South Korea’s drone infiltration claims “seems to be an advantage in controlling the inside by expanding and emphasizing the threat to the system,” and that “it is evidence that North Korea is shaken to that extent,” and continued by saying, “They will warn the US and South Korea, but North Korea will know that the warning is completely ineffective,” and “While building a pretext for provocation, the most important thing is to control the inside of North Korea, which is shaken,” and provided an additional explanation of the “air defense network has been breached” that he had mentioned on TV Chosun the day before.
On the 6th of last month, Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hun said in his inaugural speech, “If they provoke, we will make them pay a terrible price under the principle of ‘immediate, strong, and end.’ The ‘end’ of ‘immediate, strong, and end’ is the North Korean regime and its leadership. If they provoke, it will be the end of the regime.”
In response to North Korea’s criticism of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s real name, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced on October 4, “We clearly state that our strategic and military target is not our fellow North Koreans, but only Kim Jong-un,” and “We sternly warn that if North Korea provokes, that day will be the end of the Kim Jong-un regime,” declaring it as “North Korea’s independent response to the United States.”
Refer to <Marcos Grid System: ‘Rules-Based’ Exclusion of Freedom, Yoon Seok-yeol’s ‘Freedom Value-Based’ Gap, October 8, 2024>
Director Shin stated, “It is inappropriate to ask the government to inform us of the truth about North Korea’s actions,” regarding the opposition party’s criticism of the Ministry of National Defense’s response to the announcement that it “cannot confirm.” He added, “It is regrettable that the opposition party has not properly criticized or raised issues about North Korea’s many provocations and nuclear armament, but has raised issues so harshly about the military and government’s efforts to protect our people.”
In response to a question on TV Chosun on the 12th about the view that “military drones have infiltrated North Korea,” Director Shin stated, “Recently, drones have been used in a variety of ways, including military and commercial purposes, so it is difficult to conclude that drones with that level of capability are only for military purposes,” suggesting the possibility of a “commercial drone.”
The AP reported that <in a commentary released by North Korea’s state-run media, Kim Jong-un, one of her (Kim Yo-jong) brother’s senior foreign policy officials, said that the South Korean military’s ambiguous statements should be accepted as evidence that they are “the main culprits or accomplices of this incident.” The AP continued to report on the 13th, saying, “If the military stood by while its own citizens used drones, a widely known multipurpose military tool, to violate the sovereignty of another country and increase the risk of armed conflict with a potential enemy, it would amount to intentional acquiescence and complicity,” and “If South Korea’s drones are discovered again in the skies over the capital, a terrible disaster will surely occur. I personally hope that does not happen.” Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Defense Policy Committee of the U.S. Department of Defense, said of the “all-round extended deterrence cooperation plan” and “South Korea’s theory of the end of the regime in response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons” at the 5th ROK-U.S. Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group Senior Meeting last month, “We cannot script in advance how the U.S. and South Korea should respond to the possibility of a North Korean nuclear attack,” and “The declaration of the end of the world is in fact a mistake in U.S. policy, and if South Korea requested such a declaration from the U.S., it is a mistake in South Korean policy.” “If we try to do that, North Korea could attack Seoul with nuclear weapons in the process,” he said on September 11 in announcing the “nuclear scenario is impossible” to the Voice of America (VOA).
He continued, “Ending the regime means that Kim Jong-un has no more reason to refrain from further actions, and in the process, he could try to kill as many Koreans and Americans as possible,” adding, “It’s a ridiculous scenario, and it’s just a mistake.”
Regarding the function of the “Extended Deterrence Strategy Consultative Body” between South Korea and the United States, he said, “We can do specific things such as having a dialogue and giving and receiving, confirming that the nuclear command and control system is solid, cybersecurity is suitable for the nuclear command and control system, and allowing the US and South Korean presidents to talk to each other in the event of war and damage to the physical infrastructure used for normal communications,” and “However, if we try to make a big strategic promise, we’re pushing too hard,” and identified “hasty unilateral progress” as an obstacle.