A fire attack drill by North Korean rocket weapons systems at an concealed area in North Korea in March 2023 in this picture launched by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Around 6,000 of these systems are situated in variety of South Korean population .
KCNA | Reuters
North Korea’s rocket launches in the past month have ratcheted up stress on the Korean Peninsula —but that’s not the just hazard the reclusive state presents.
While North Korea’s ballistic rocket launches are the ones that grab headings, the risk of standard weapons strikes must not be overlooked, cautioned Naoko Aoki, partner political researcher with the Rand Corporation.
North Korea boasts the world’s 4th biggest armed forces, according to the Council of Foreign Relations. In late 2022, CFR approximated North Korea had 1.3 million active military workers, in addition to a 600,000 strong reserve force.
Most armedforce experts acknowledge that North Korea’s armed forces are no match for the integrated U.S. and South Korean forces, however they state that the nation can still wreak enormous damage on South Korea through traditional arms.
Artillery hazard
North Korea has frequently threatened to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire” with its toolbox of weapons, and unlike most of its other dangers, this one might not be pure embellishment.
Asked if such a danger was reputable, Victor Cha, senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, responded: “They might do that if they desired to.”
But he alerted that Pyongyang will face a strong action if it ever brought out that hazard. “There would be a reaction [from the U.S. and South Korea] extremely plainly if they did that. But they might do it if they desired to.”
A 2020 evaluation from policy think tank Rand Corp discovered that North Korea preserves around 6,000 weapons systems within variety of South Korean population centers, consistingof the capital of Seoul which has a population of 10 million.
Rand approximated that if the thousands of weapons systems were released and utilized versus civilian targets, they might possibly kill more than 10,000 individuals in an hour.
“Even quick, directly customized attacks might damage crucial commercial centers and seriously damage the South Korean economy,” the experts pointed out.
Separately, a 2018 Rand report shows that one of the world’s biggest semiconductor fabrication plants — Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek plant — is within variety of North Korea’s long-range rocket systems, inspiteof being about 100 kilometers from the border.
A 2018 Rand evaluation on how far numerous North Korean weapons systems can reach into South Korea. The longest varied systems can reach as far as 200 kilometers from the border.
Rand Corporation
Display producer LG Display’s biggest OLED production plant is situated in Paju, simply 9 kilometers from the border and can be reached by the North’s mid-ranged weapons.
“This hazard provides North Korea the power to push the South Korean federalgovernment, or to strikeback versus South Korean military or political actions, even without resorting to its chemical or nuclear toolboxes,” the 2020 report pointed out.
Is it reliable?
Rand’s 2020 evaluation stated it would be hard for South Korean and U.S. forces to sustain substantial damage on North Korea’s weapons systems, as these will be protected from counterfire in underground centers.
Daniel Pinkston, who lectures on worldwide re