South Korean President calls for "prepare for war" against Pyongyang's threats
Yoon Seok Yul speaks during a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul.
EPA
South Korean President Yoon Sok Yul criticized the North for deploying five "drones" across the border this week, and stressed that "strict retribution and retaliation" are the only way to prevent attacks and provocations, according to Bloomberg News yesterday.
"There can be no army that does not think about war and prepare for it," the South Korean president said in a speech at the Defense Development Agency.
For us, in order to achieve peace, we need to prepare for war with overwhelming superiority.
The South Korean military will later hold an exercise to bolster defense against "potential provocations" by North Korean drones, officials said in Seoul, as it vowed to adopt a "firm" approach to the renewed security challenge.
The drills were arranged after the South Korean military failed to shoot down five North Korean drones that violated South Korean airspace last Monday, in an infiltration operation that raised questions about its readiness status, Yonhap news agency reported.
The focus is expected to be on mobilizing Army helicopters, Air Force planes, and detectors for an integrated operation based on cross-border infiltration scenarios by North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles.
In a medium-term defense plan released on Monday, the Defense Ministry said it plans to spend a total of 560 billion won ($441 million) over the next five years for a range of anti-drone projects, including the deployment of a laser weapon system.
On the other hand, according to emergency officials and media reports that a huge fire broke out on a major highway in South Korea yesterday, killing at least five people, as well as injuring dozens in heavy traffic, before it could be extinguished.
A witness told YTN television that heavy traffic made it difficult for vehicles to immediately escape from the area.
Media reported that the fire appeared to have started after a collision between a bus and a truck.
However, a firefighting official at the scene stated that the investigation is still underway to find out the cause of the fire, which has been extinguished.
He added that 44 cars were destroyed in the fire.
An emergency service official said five were killed and at least 37 wounded, three of them critically.
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