The return of joint exercises between the United States and South Korea will include a controversial exercise in decapitating the leader of North Korea.
The U.S. and South Korea are partnering in their first joint exercise in five years with a “kill chain,” in which soldiers will practice targeting North Korea’s missile and nuclear sites and the bases the North needs to supply, refuel, and rearm them. To conclude this exercise, the soldiers will practice a “decapitation” in which they play at invading the heart of the North Korean command structure and taking out the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, sources familiar with the U.S.-South Korea military alliance told the Daily Beast.
“Decapitation is a mission to capture or kill a high-value target, e.g., manhunting,” said David Maxwell, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel. “If you get the head of the military forces, theoretically you gut the head of the snake.”
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The exercises, titled Ulchi Freedom Shield, are named for a seventh-century general who defeated Chinese invaders and are set to begin this month. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korea’s defense minister, Lee Jong-sup, agreed last weekend to hold the exercises for the first time since 2018, when former President Donald Trump canceled them right after his summit with Kim in Singapore.
The mere mention of decapitation infuriates Kim, who is already intimidated by the concept of the “kill chain,” according to analysts.
Kim warned the U.S. and South Korea on Thursday that his country would be willing to use its nuclear arsenal against them. U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies have also warned that North Korea appeared on the verge of conducting its first nuclear test since 2017.
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In July, it was announced that South Korea’s Unification Ministry plans to lift a decadeslong ban on North Korean media in a gradual effort to encourage mutual understanding and restore Korean national identity, according to a policy report to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
