Tag Archives: South Korea

China’s Xi urges caution over U.S. missile deployment

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing's Great Hall of the People

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged South Korea to pay attention to China’s concerns about the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system to the country and “cautiously” address the plan.

The United States and South Korea have begun talks on possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system after North Korea tested its fourth nuclear bomb on Jan. 6 and conducted missile tests.

China and Russia have urged the United States to back off, saying THAAD’s deployment could also affect their security.

South Korea should “attach importance to China’s legitimate concern on security and cautiously and appropriately address the United States’ plan” to deploy THAAD in South Korea, Xi told visiting South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

North Korea’s drive to develop a nuclear weapons capability has angered China, Pyongyang’s sole major diplomatic and economic supporter. But Beijing fears THAAD and its radar have a range that would extend into China.

Xi added that China and South Korea should continue to work for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, work together to maintain peace and stability and solve problems through dialogue and consultation.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Keyboard warriors: South Korea trains new frontline in decades-old war with North

Student training to be hacker

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – In one college major at Seoul’s elite Korea University, the courses are known only by number, and students keep their identities a secret from outsiders.

The Cyber Defense curriculum, funded by the defense ministry, trains young keyboard warriors who get a free education in exchange for a seven-year commitment as officers in the army’s cyber warfare unit – and its ongoing conflict with North Korea.

North and South Korea remain in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce. Besides Pyongyang’s nuclear and rocket program, South Korea says the North has a strong cyber army which it has blamed for a series of attacks in the past three years.

The cyber defense program at the university in Seoul was founded in 2011, with the first students enrolled the following year.

One 21-year-old student, who allowed himself to be identified only by his surname Noh, said he had long been interested in computing and cyber security and was urged by his father to join the program. All South Korean males are required to serve in the military, usually for up to two years.

“It’s not a time burden but part of a process to build my career,” Noh said.

“Becoming a cyber warrior means devoting myself to serve my country,” he said in a war room packed with computers and wall-mounted flat screens at the school’s science library.

South Korea, a key U.S. ally, is one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries.

That makes its networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system vulnerable against an enemy that has relatively primitive infrastructure and thus few targets against which the South can retaliate.

“In relative terms, it looks unfavorable because our country has more places to defend, while North Korea barely uses or provides internet,” said Noh.

Last year, South Korea estimated that the North’s “cyber army” had doubled in size over two years to 6,000 troops, and the South has been scrambling to ramp up its capability to meet what it considers to be a rising threat.

The United States and South Korea announced efforts to strengthen cooperation on cyber security, including “deepening military-to-military cyber cooperation,” the White House said during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington in October.

In addition to the course at Korea University, the national police has been expanding its cyber defense capabilities, while the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning started a one-year program in 2012 to train so-called “white hat” – or ethical – computer hackers.

NORTH’S CYBER OFFENSIVES

Still, the North appears to have notched up successes in the cyber war against both the South and the United States.

Last week, South Korean police said the North hacked into more than 140,000 computers at 160 South Korean companies and government agencies, planting malicious code under a long-term plan laying groundwork for a massive cyber attack against its rival.

In 2013, Seoul blamed the North for a cyber attack on banks and broadcasters that froze computer systems for over a week.

North Korea denied responsibility.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has blamed Pyongyang for a 2014 cyber attack on Sony Pictures’ network as the company prepared to release “The Interview,” a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The attack was followed by online leaks of unreleased movies and emails that caused embarrassment to executives and Hollywood personalities.

North Korea described the accusation as “groundless slander.”

South Korea’s university cyber defense program selects a maximum of 30 students each year, almost all of them men. On top of free tuition, the school provides 500,000 won ($427) per month support for each student for living expenses, according to Korea University Professor Jeong Ik-rae.

The course trains pupils in disciplines including hacking, mathematics, law and cryptography, with students staging mock hacking attacks or playing defense, using simulation programs donated by security firms, he said.

The admission to the selective program entails three days of interviews including physical examinations, attended by military officials along with the school’s professors, he said.

While North Korea’s cyber army outnumbers the South’s roughly 500-strong force, Jeong said a small group of talented and well-trained cadets can be groomed to beat the enemy.

Jeong, an information security expert who has taught in the cyber defense curriculum since 2012, said the school benchmarks itself on Israel’s elite Talpiot program, which trains gifted students in areas like technology and applied sciences as well as combat. After graduating, they focus on areas like cybersecurity and missile defense.

“It’s very important to have skills to respond when attacks happen – not only to defend,” Jeong said.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

U.S. expects announcement soon on Korea anti missile system

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful inter

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Plans for the deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea are moving forward and an announcement can be expected soon, senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters en route to a regional security meeting in Singapore, at which he will meet his South Korean counterpart, that recent North Korean missile tests showed the need for improved missile defenses, even though the test had been failures.

“There have been five consecutive failures there, but…most of the world continues to be concerned about North Korean missile activity,” Carter said after what U.S. and South Korean officials say was the latest failed test of a North Korean intermediate range Musudan missile on Tuesday.

“Whatever the outcome of the test, the fact remains that they are trying to make those missiles fly – that’s the critical fact,” Carter said.

Carter said deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system would come up in his meeting on Saturday with the South Korean defense minister on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but added: “It’s not something we need to discuss much because the plans are moving forward.”

He waved aside concerns expressed by China that deployment of the THAAD system’s radars on the Korean peninsula could upset the balance of power by reducing the strategic deterrence of the Chinese ballistic missile system.

“This is an alliance decision; a decision of the United States and the Republic of Korea, which is about protecting us both from a North Korean missile attack …The implementation will be a series of decisions that we take together and it’s for our own protection against North Korea. Everybody should understand that.”

Another senior U.S. defense official said they were still “a lot of technical issues to get through,” but “we will have a public announcement soon.” “We are in the process of continuing our discussions on deployment and we will have an announcement when we’re ready,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The United States and South Korea began formal discussions on deploying the THAAD system in South Korea after North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test in January and launched a rocket into space the following month as part of a program seen as a cover for intercontinental ballistic missile development.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

South Korea dismissed North Korean proposal as bogus

KCNA picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a banquet for contributors of the recent rocket launch

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea dismissed on Monday a North Korean proposal for military talks as “a bogus peace offensive” and said it was formally rejecting the overture because it lacked a plan to end the North’s nuclear program.

North Korea’s proposal on the weekend for talks between the two Koreas, a repeat of a call by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a congress of his ruling party this month, came after a period of heightened tension on the peninsula.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February, triggering tougher international sanctions and the adoption of a more hardline position by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

North Korea said dialogue between military officials from the two sides was urgently needed to reduce tension, and suggested they be held in late May or early June.

South Korea said the offer was insincere.

“The dialogue proposed by the North does not mention its nuclear program, which is the fundamental issue for peace on the Korean peninsula and South-North ties,” South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing.

“Proposing dialogue without an expression of its position on denuclearization is a bogus peace offensive for bogus peace that lacks sincerity.”

Moon said the South had sent a message over a military hotline on Monday expressing regret over the North’s proposal and asking it to state its position on denuclearization.

This month, at the first congress of North Korea’s Workers’ Party in 36 years, Kim declared his country a nuclear weapons state and vowed to press on with nuclear development, which he said was defensive.

In the run-up to the congress, North Korea test-fired a series of missiles including a submarine-based ballistic missile. It also attempted a launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said Pyongyang’s intention may be to sow discord among the public in the South and create a rift in the international commitment to sanctions.

“Let me repeat: Now is not the time for dialogue,” said ministry spokesman Cheong Joon-hee.

North Korea came under tougher international pressure with the March adoption of a U.N. Security Council resolution that was even backed its lone major ally China, which disapproves of its nuclear arms program.

South Korea has also cut off all commercial contacts with the North.

The two Koreas have remained in a technical state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Jack Kim)

South Korea warns of risk North may abduct citizens abroad

Flags of North Korea and China

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said on Monday it was on guard for the possibility North Korea may try to snatch its citizens abroad or conduct “terrorist acts” after the North accused it of abducting North Korean workers from a restaurant in China.

“All measures of precaution” were in place for the safety of South Koreans abroad including an order to beef up security at diplomatic missions, said the South’s Unification Ministry, which handles issues related to the North.

“We are on alert for the possibility that the North may try to abduct our citizens or conduct terrorist acts abroad,” ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a briefing.

The two Korea’s have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and tension on the peninsula has been high since January when North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. It followed that with a string of missile tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea said in April 13 North Korean workers at a restaurant run by the North in China had defected. North Korea accused the South of a “hideous abduction”.

North Korea proposed sending family members of the 13 to South Korea for face-to-face meetings but the South rejected the suggestion.

About 29,000 people have left North Korea and arrived in the South since the Korean war, including 1,276 last year, with numbers declining since a 2009 peak. In the first quarter of this year, 342 North Koreans arrived in the South.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)

North Korea claims rocket engine success; South Korea on high alert

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea successfully tested a solid-fuel engine that boosted the power of its ballistic rockets, state media reported on Thursday, as South Korea’s president ordered the military to be ready to respond to the North’s “reckless provocation”.

Pyongyang’s claim indicates it is continuing to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a rapid pace in defiance of U.N. sanctions, and amid assessment by the South’s officials that it could conduct a new nuclear test at any time.

The isolated state has in recent weeks stepped up bellicose rhetoric, threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul, as well as making claims of advancement in its weapons technology.

The Rodong Sinmum, the North’s ruling party newspaper, carried photos of leader Kim Jong Un on site as a rocket engine laid horizontally on the ground emitted a fiery blast. A two-page report detailed the testing of the engine’s structure and thrust.

“He noted with great pleasure that the successful test… helped boost the power of ballistic rockets capable of mercilessly striking hostile forces,” KCNA news agency said.

The North said last week it had conducted a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile, and would soon test ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

On Wednesday, the North repeated the threat to attack the South’s presidential office, saying its large-caliber multiple rocket launch systems are on alert to strike the Blue House and its special operations unit is ready to go into action.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye ordered a heightened state of alert and put the military on standby to “respond actively to reckless provocations by the North,” according to her office.

The current tension on the peninsula follows the United Nations Security Council’s recent imposition of tough new sanctions against the North over its nuclear and missile programs, and as South Korea and the United States conduct annual joint military drills.

The North calls the exercises “nuclear war moves” and has threatened to respond with an all-out offensive, as well as a series of rocket launches in recent days.

SOLID FUEL ROCKET ENGINE

Pyongyang has previously launched long-range rockets that used liquid fuel but it was seen to lack the capability to build solid-fuel long-range or intercontinental missiles.

Solid-fuel rockets have advantages in military use, although liquid fuel rockets are considered more sophisticated as their thrust can be controlled in flight.

The North has deployed short and medium-range missiles and test fired them, but never flight-tested the KN-08 ICBM it is believed to be developing.

The KN-08, which has been put on display at military parades and in official news media, appears to have a three-stage design that is likely intended to use solid fuel, according to experts.

Despite its boasts to be making progress, many experts believe the North is a decade or more away from building an ICBM capable of threatening the United States.

The North’s stepped-up rhetoric and weapons claims come ahead of its planned congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, which will be the first in more than 35 years.

Some Pyongyang-watchers say the North may look to claim a splashy achievement, such as a fifth nuclear test, in the run-up to the conference as young leader Kim Jong Un looks to bolster his legitimacy domestically.

“North Korea may think it is better for them to complete their nuclear weapons program and negotiate later, rather than just to sit back until it withers and dies,” Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, said.

The North is ready to conduct a fifth nuclear test “now, immediately,” the South’s unification ministry said on Monday.

Its nuclear test site remained active, undergoing maintenance on existing tunnels as well as clean-up following the January test, according to 38 North, a project of the U.S. Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will push his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama next week to resume talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and James Pearson; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Tony Munroe)

U.S. hopes for talks with China about possible missile defense deployment to South Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States hopes to talk with China and address its concerns about the possible deployment of the THAAD missile defense system that Washington is discussing with Seoul, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.

Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, stressed that the United States and South Korea had just begun discussions, and no decision had been made to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

Gottemoeller also emphasized that the system was defensive in nature and aimed at North Korea, not China.

“THAAD is truly only capable of defending the territory on which it’s deployed. It is not capable of the kind of reach that the Chinese seem to be afraid that it has,” she told reporters at a breakfast meeting.

“We will be very glad and hope we’ll have the opportunity to sit down and talk with China about those very technical limitations and facts about the system,” she said.

Gottemoeller gave no timetable for a possible meeting.

The United States and South Korea agreed to begin the talks last month after North Korea launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 carrying what it called a satellite.

Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China, North Korea’s neighbor and main ally, last month underscored China’s concerns about a possible THAAD deployment but seemed to open the door to a diplomatic solution.

Wang said China understood the desire of the United States and South Korea to ensure the defense of their own countries, but Beijing had legitimate concerns that should be addressed.

U.S. military officials have long said the THAAD system is needed in South Korea, but until North Korea’s recent satellite launch, Seoul had been reluctant to openly discuss its deployment given the risk of damaging ties with China.

Army Lieutenant General David Mann, commander, U.S. Army Space & Missile Command, told reporters that the THAAD system would result in a “huge increase” in missile defense capabilities on the Korean peninsula. But he said Washington understood the sensitivity of the discussions given the concerns raised by China, one of South Korea’s key trading partners.

“It’s very, very important that we clarify that that radar, that system is not looking at China,” he said. “If the decision is made to deploy it, that system would be oriented on North Korea and threats posed by the North Korean military.”

The system was designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.

Mann said the Army would complete training for its fifth THAAD system by the end of the year. He said Japan was also interested in the system, as were U.S. military commanders in Europe and the Middle East.

Once a site was approved and prepared, the THAAD system could be deployed “in a matter of weeks,” Mann said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Defiant North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea, Japan protests

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Friday, one of which flew about 800 km (500 miles) while the other exploded shortly after launch, U.S. officials said, as the isolated state stepped up its defiance of tough new U.N. and U.S. sanctions.

U.S. officials told Reuters the medium-range missiles appeared to be fired from road-mobile launchers.

One missile, fired from north of the capital, Pyongyang, flew across the peninsula and into the sea off the east coast early Friday morning, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

That would mark North Korea’s first test of a medium-range missile, one of which was capable of reaching Japan, since 2014.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the second missile flew a short period before exploding.

South Korea did not confirm the type of missile but U.S. officials said they were medium-range ballistic missiles.

A range of 800 km was likely beyond the capability of most short-range missiles in North Korea’s arsenal. The North’s Rodong missile has an estimated maximum range of 1,300 km (810 miles), according to the South’s defense ministry.

North Korea’s action provoked a barrage of criticism and appeals.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang urged it to abide by U.N. resolutions and not do anything to exacerbate tensions.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the United States was “analyzing the results of those launches,” but called on Beijing to use its influence over Pyongyang.

“China could do a lot more,” Carter said, adding Beijing should seek a nuclear-free North Korea.

The U.S. State Department in a statement urged North Korea to focus on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.

Japan lodged a protest with North Korea through its embassy in Beijing, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament.

“Japan strongly demands North Korea to exercise self-restraint and will take all necessary measures, such as warning and surveillance activity, to be able to respond to any situations,” Abe said.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Pyongyang should focus on improving the lives of its people and that provocative actions would help nothing.

NUCLEAR WARHEADS

North Korea often fires missiles during periods of tension on the Korean peninsula or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programs.

Last week, the North fired two short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast and its leader Kim Jong Un ordered more nuclear weapons tests and missile tests.

That came after North Korean media said the North had miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles and quoted Kim as calling on the military to prepare for a “pre-emptive nuclear strike” against the United States and South Korea.

U.S. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday over its nuclear test and satellite launch. The sanctions freeze North Korean government assets in the United States, bans U.S. exports to, or investment in, North Korea, and expands a U.S. blacklist to anyone, including non-Americans, who deals with North Korea.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket on Feb. 7 in defiance of existing U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The North has called annual joint drills by U.S. and South Korean troops that began on March 7 “nuclear war moves” and threatened to wipe out its enemies.

The U.S. and South Korea remain technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement. In recent weeks, the two Koreas have suspended economic ties over the mounting tensions.

South Korea and U.S. officials this month began discussions on deploying the advanced anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to the U.S. military in the South, despite Chinese and Russian objections.

On Wednesday, North Korea’s supreme court sentenced a visiting American student to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a punishment Washington condemned as politically motivated.

(Additional reporting by Tokyo newsroom, Phil Stewart in Washington and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Editing by Bill Tarrant and James Dalgleish)

North Korea fires missiles, plans to ‘liquidate’ South Korean assets

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, as South Korean and U.S. forces conducted massive war games.

The North also announced it had scrapped all agreements with the South on commercial exchange projects and would “liquidate” South Korean assets left behind in its territory.

North Korea has a large stockpile of short-range missiles and is developing long-range and intercontinental missiles as well. Thursday’s missiles flew about 300 miles into the sea, off the east coast city of Wonsan and probably were part of the Soviet-developed Scud series, South Korea’s defense ministry said.

Japan, within range of the longer-range variant of Scud missiles or the upgraded Rodong missiles, lodged a protest through the North Korean embassy in Beijing, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.

A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said on Thursday the U.S. Defense Department was aware of the reports of the missile launches. “We are monitoring the situation closely,” he said.

North Korea often fires short-range missiles when tensions rise on the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang gets particularly upset about the annual U.S.-South Korea drills, which it says are preparations for an invasion.

The U.S. and South Korea remain technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement.

Around 17,000 U.S. military personnel are participating alongside some 300,000 South Korean troops in what South Korea’s Defense Ministry has called the “largest-ever” joint military exercises.

North Korea on Sunday warned it would make a “pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike” in response to the exercises.

“LIQUIDATING” ASSETS

After Thursday’s missile launches, North Korea announced it would “liquidate” South Korean assets left behind in the Kaesong industrial zone and in the Mount Kumgang tourist zone.

South Korea protested the move as “totally unacceptable” but did not say what it could do to recover the assets that it valued in excess of $1.17 billion.

Seoul suspended operations in the jointly run zone last month as punishment for the North’s rocket launch and nuclear test.

Mount Kumgang was the first major inter-Korean cooperation project. Thousands of South Koreans visited the resort between 1998 and 2008. Seoul ended the tours in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist who wandered into a restricted area.

North Korea is also livid about stepped-up United Nations sanctions adopted last week following its recent nuclear test and long-range missile launch.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said Thursday’s missile launches again violated a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions and it would refer the matter to the Council’s sanctions committee mandated to enforce the resolutions.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei described the situation on the Korean peninsula as “complex and sensitive.”

“All sides should stop their provocative words and deeds to avoid a further rise in tensions,” he said.

MINIATURIZED WARHEADS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles, state media reported on Wednesday, and called on his military to be prepared to mount pre-emptive attacks against the United States and South Korea.

It was his first direct comment on the technology needed to deploy nuclear missiles. North Korean state media released photographs they said showed Kim Jong Un inspecting a spherical miniaturized warhead. State media have previously made that claim, which has been widely questioned and never independently verified.

South Korea’s defense ministry said it did not believe the North had successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead or deployed a functioning intercontinental ballistic missile.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby declined on Wednesday to comment on Kim’s claim to have miniaturized nuclear warheads and accused him of “provocative rhetoric.”

“I’d say the young man needs to pay more attention to the North Korean people and taking care of them, than in pursuing these sorts of reckless capabilities,” Kirby said.

The Pentagon said this week it had not seen North Korea demonstrate a capability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead. But Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Wednesday the department was working on U.S. ballistic missile defenses to be prepared.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 but its claim to have set off a miniaturized hydrogen bomb last month has been disputed by the U.S. and South Korean governments and many experts, who said the blast was too small to back it up.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo and David Brunnstrom and David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Clarence Fernandez and Jeffrey Benkoe)

U.S. fires rockets in war drill following North Korea’s nuclear threats

CHEORWON, South Korea (Reuters) – There’s more to do in South Korea’s heavily forested Rocket Valley, just a few miles from the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, than fire rockets. In quieter times, people tend vegetable patches along ice-cold streams.

But on Wednesday, a U.S. artillery brigade based in the South heated things up, launching a barrage of rockets close to the border town of Cheorwon.

The live-fire drills came hours after a report by reclusive North Korea that it had miniaturized nuclear warheads to be mounted on ballistic missiles and leader Kim Jong Un had ordered further improvements to its arsenal.

Tension in the region was already high as South Korean and U.S. troops began large-scale military exercises on Monday in a test of their defenses against North Korea, which called the drills “nuclear war moves” and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive.

The U.N. Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions on North Korea last week for its Jan. 6 nuclear test. The North launched a long-range rocket a month later, drawing international criticism and sanctions from South Korea.

The drills in Rocket Valley were separate to the annual joint U.S.-South Korean maneuvers which involve about 17,000 U.S. troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

They were a test of the U.S. Army M270A1 system, a multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) built by Lockheed Martin that can fire 12 rounds and re-load and move at 40 miles per hour.

One unit was dug in at the foot of Rocket Valley, under the swaying firs. A sonic boom followed the rockets as they screamed over the tree line followed by trails of flame toward targets five miles away, invisible over the ridge lines.

“If North Korea decides to use their long-range artillery, which they have so many pieces of, Seoul would be in direct range,” Captain Harry Lu of the U.S. Army’s 37th Field Artillery Regiment said.

“So our mission here is to make sure we destroy that artillery before they can cause any more damage to the greater Seoul metropolitan area.”

SHRILL THREATS OF WAR

In bellicose rhetoric, North Korea routinely threatens to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” and the city was reduced to rubble in the 1950-53 Korean conflict, which ended in a truce, not a treaty, meaning the two sides are technically still at war.

Kim Jong Un’s announcement of advances in North Korea’s nuclear program followed his order last week for the country to be prepared to mount pre-emptive attacks against the United States and South Korea and stand ready to use nuclear weapons.

He issued the command as the North showcased its own MLRS which is carried by a Chinese-made truck and may be able to operate outside the range of similar U.S. and South Korean weapons, according to an expert.

South Korea’s defense ministry said the North’s rockets flew up to 90 miles off the east coast and into the sea, a display of power seen as a response to the U.N. sanctions.

The U.S. 210th Field Artillery Brigade, based in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, is one of the only U.S. battalions that will not move to a newly expanded military base south of the capital under an agreement between South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs.

That is because it is considered part of South Korea’s “counter-fire plan” and contains MLRS, capable of firing a barrage of rockets at a target beyond the range of conventional artillery.

It is one of South Korea’s first lines of defense in the event of war.

“Unless using guided munitions, (multiple-launch rockets) are less accurate than tube artillery but can put a lot of steel downrange with devastating effect,” said Bruce Klinger, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former Korea specialist at the CIA.

On Wednesday, the devastating effect was being unleashed over an idyllic landscape which belies its name. In just a few weeks, holiday makers will return to the private cottages, camp sites and vegetable plots that dot the hills to get away from the summer heat of the city.

(Editing by Jack Kim and Nick Macfie)