Posted on 09/30/2009 6:05:37 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
North Korea is increasingly focused on cyber warfare, improvised explosives and missile technology as the regime fears it would be defeated in a direct confrontation with US and South Korean forces, a US commander said on Tuesday. The emphasis on unconventional methods comes amid signs North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il appears to be firmly "in charge" and in decent health, General Walter Sharp, commander of US forces in Korea, told reporters on Tuesday.
"I think the North Koreans probably realized they could not win in a normal conventional all-out attack," Sharp said.
Given the strength of South Korean and US forces, unconventional or "asymmetric" threats "are definitely where they're pushing towards," Sharp told a group of defense journalists.
The US mission was working to ensure it learned the lessons of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where homemade roadside bombs have been the weapon of choice for insurgents, he said.
The US military also was worried about North Korea building up cyber warfare tools, he said.
"I think they have seen some of the benefits of cyber, and what we rely on as far as our cyber network to be able to command and operate," he said.
As a result, South Korean and US forces had set up cyber commands to secure sensitive networks crucial to operations, he said.
North Korea's missile program also could be considered part of the same asymmetric strategy as it was designed as a tool of blackmail and to counter the strength of conventional allied forces, he said.
In response to the North Korean missile threat, South Korea recently bought Patriot missile defense batteries from Germany and was working with the US military to improve intelligence sharing.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacewar.com ...
and this is news?
And once again in keeping with hundreds of years of precedent...our generals will be gearing up to fight the wrong kind of war...limited by myopic senators and congressmen interested only in their own reelection. Add this time a president whose understanding of war rivals my understanding of the ‘string’ theory.
ping.
BTTT
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