South Korea will form a special military brigade this year tasked with removing North Korea’s leadership in the event of war.
The unit was supposed to be ready by 2019, but plans are now being accelerated amid a recent wave of aggressive rhetoric from its rival and neighbour North Korea.
South Korea’s defence minister Han Min-Koo said the special unit, known as the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan, would now be launched years ahead of schedule.
He also warned of a “strategic or tactical provocation” from the North in the coming months.
“We are planning to set up a special brigade with the goal of removing or (at least) paralysing North Korea’s wartime command structure,” he told acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, according to the Yonhap news agency.
North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and test-fired several ballistic missiles in 2016.
