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On the first day of the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle military exercises

The key issue behind North Korea’s objections to the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle joint military exercises launched by South Korea and the US on Mar. 7 is the matter of the “decapitation strike” exercises. The heated response from Pyongyang appears to be a reaction to recent reports in the Japanese press that such a strike would be included in the exercises.

A decapitation strike or strategy is, quite literally, an operation to eliminate an enemy leader. In the past, the US military used state-of-the-art weaponry in operations to intended to take out leaders of anti-US administrations such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

North Korea‘s own ambush of the Blue House on Jan. 21, 1968, could also be described as a primitive decapitation strike attempt. The North’s military could find it difficult to remain silent if the South Korean and US military train such a strike, since it would mean targeting the figure it calls its “supreme dignity”: leader Kim Jong-un.

South Korean and US marines in Pohang move to their training area

The idea of a decapitation strike was first raised in South Korea around the late ’00s. Proponents like former Army Col. Kwon Tae-joon suggested the approach as part of military innovations. The issue became a source of controversy for the military after current Army brigadier general and Ministry of National Defense military reform officer Cho Sang-ho mentioned it alongside psychological warfare, intelligence supremacy, and precision strike capabilities as an example of asymmetrical strategy against the North at an Aug. 2015 academic seminar.

Cho later explained that he had “only cited an example of a concept that is being discussed academically” and “did not intend to suggest that such operations exist in the military.”

The reason the issue is once again touching off controversy is because of recent reports that the current exercises will adopt the operational concept of a pre-emptive strike in the event of a perceived imminent North Korean nuclear attack. One question is whether the potential targets for such a strike would include not only nuclear and missile bases, but also the offices of Kim, the figure who would be ordering an attack. Further fueling the speculation is the fact that the exercises are set to include the US 1st Special Forces Group and special operations troops with the 75th Ranger Regiment, which have previously been involved in decapitation strike operations. With the assassination of key enemy figures often included as one of the tasks of special operations units, the possibility of training for a decapitation strike cannot be ruled out.

A Ministry of National Defense official issued a de facto denial of the reports in a Mar. 7 briefing.

“The term ‘decapitation strike’ does not exist in the Ministry’s operational concepts,” the official said.

But when asked if a decapitation strike would be included in the exercises, the same official said he could “not speak about the content of the exercises.” For now, the ministry appears to opting for ambiguity rather than issuing a definite confirmation or denial.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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