(LEAD) S. Korea will launch preemptive strike in case of imminent nuclear attack: minister

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; RESTRUCTURES and UPDATES with minister's remarks from
para 6)
By Shin Hae-in

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- A preemptive strike would be the only way for South
Korea to defend itself if it were to confirm North Korea has clear intentions of
launching a nuclear attack, Seoul's chief of defense said Wednesday.
The latest remarks by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young come as the two Koreas
opened a second day of talks on further developing a joint industrial complex in
the North. The talks came just days after Pyongyang warned of armed action
against the South over unconfirmed reports that Seoul has drawn up a contingency
plan in case of a regime collapse in the communist country.
"We would have to strike (North Korea) right away if we detected that it has a
clear intention to attack (South Korea) with nuclear weapons," Defense Minister
Kim Tae-young told a local defense forum.
"It would be too late and the damage would be too big if, in the case of a North
Korean nuclear strike, we had to cope with the attack. There can be no changes to
this principle."
Kim made similar remarks in 2008, then as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
shortly after Pyongyang test-fired several short-range missiles off its west
coast. In a show of anger, North Korea kicked out a number of South Korean
officials then working at inter-Korean project sites. The country also threatened
"more powerful" attacks of its own.
"We need to go strong in one hand while also striving not to let the talks slip
away as there is a possibility of North Korea rejoining the six-party talks," the
minister added.
Indicating a willingness to return to the stalled multinational negotiations
aimed at ending its nuclear weapons development, North Korea has been demanding
that international sanctions on it be lifted. Pyongyang quit the talks with South
Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia last year in anger over
international condemnation of a prohibited long-range rocket launch.
Minister Kim also hinted at Seoul's willingness to rediscuss with Washington the
timing of a planned return of wartime operation control to South Korea, calling
the current date for the move "a bad time."
Seoul, which is technically still at war with Pyongyang after the 1950-53 Korean
War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, is slated to take back wartime
operation control, or OPCON, from Washington on April 17, 2012.
The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) currently retains wartime control of South Korea's
military, a legacy of the Korean War when the United States fought for South
Korea against the North. South Korea regained peacetime command of its forces in
1994.
"The military must prepare for the worst situation, which would be to have OPCON
returned to us in 2012," Kim said. "This is, however, not a matter to be solved
within the country as it is a political promise made between states. Adjusting
the time (of the OPCON transfer) would have to be discussed with Washington."
The militaries of South Korea and the United States have been working to replace
the U.S.-led combined forces mechanism with a Seoul-led joint command system
following a 2007 agreement.
Kim added the OPCON transfer and the departure of U.S. forces in South Korea were
"two different matters," emphasizing all 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here since
the Korean War will remain in the country.
"The United States' military support of Korea will actually be strengthened," he
said.
The USFK had said last week the transition of OPCON will not affect ties between
the two longtime allies.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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