Moon urges transfer of wartime command

SEOUL - Moon Jae-in, president of the Republic of Korea, on Thursday stressed the need for the early transfer of wartime operational control of its forces from the United States to better tackle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

In a speech to celebrate the 69th anniversary of Armed Forces Day, Moon said the government aimed to regain the wartime command of ROK forces early from the US and that the transfer will make the military's capability leap forward.

The ROK handed over its operational command to the US forces after the three-year Korean War broke out in 1950. The country won back its peacetime operational control in 1994.

To strengthen its standalone defense capability, Moon said the military should make all-out efforts to rapidly build a so-called "three-axis" defense platform, including the Kill Chain, the Korean Air and Missile Defense and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation.

The Kill Chain is designed to pre-emptively strike the DPRK's missile launch sites when any sign of the first strike is spotted. The KMPR is a project to pre-emptively strike the DPRK's leadership with massive missile attacks when Pyongyang's first strike sign is detected.

The KAMD is a project to develop its indigenous missile defense system to shoot down incoming missiles at multiple layers. It includes the development of interceptors such as medium-range surface-to-air missiles and long-range surface-to-air missiles that can intercept missiles at an altitude of less than 100 kilometers.

Moon said the top priority should be put on securing defense capability.

Tensions ran high on the Korean Peninsula as the DPRK conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept 3. It was followed by its test launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan in response to the UN Security Council's adoption of a new resolution toughening sanctions on Pyongyang.

The war of rhetoric was resumed between Pyongyang and Washington after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of a total destruction if it continues to threaten the US and its allies.

In response, top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un warned Washington of the highest-level hardline countermeasures.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/29/2017 page12)