It has become routine for North Korea to issue threats of a nuclear strike if the country is attacked. Now South Korea is responding with a threatening warning of its own. The country is openly announcing it will set up a “decapitation unit” capable of killing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if North Korea initiates a war. From CNN:

The country is speeding up plans to set up what some call a “decapitation unit,” a brigade specifically tasked with targeting North Korea’s “wartime command,” including leader Kim Jong Un, according to a South Korea Defense Ministry official…

The brigade was initially supposed to be ready in 2019, but the Defense Ministry now says it’ll be established “by this year.”

This announcement appears to be motivated by recent North Korean provocations including a military exercise last month that simulated an attack on the South Korean equivalent of the White House. From a CNN story published last month:

Photos published in North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun appeared to show a mockup of South Korea’s presidential Blue House as a target.

“Well done, the enemy troops will have no space to hide themselves, far from taking any counteraction,” Kim reportedly said after watching the drill, according to North Korean state media KCNA.

The report specifically mentioned the South as a target for North Korean forces, as Kim offered advice on a “guerilla warfare” invasion of the country’s southern neighbor and rival.

South Korea suspects Kim Jong un is trying to capitalize on political disruption in the country. South Korean President Park Guen-hye was impeached last month and her authority as president was stripped while a court decides her fate. The court has until June to decide whether her authority should be reinstated or she is removed from office. In the meantime, the public announcement of a “decapitation unit” aimed at North Korea is being made by the Ministry of Defense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm0ronnocfY