Other Military Targets
Around two-thirds of North Korea's active ground forces are deployed close to the DMZ, giving the DPRK the capacity to attack the ROK at relatively short notice. The four forward conventional corps, I, II, IV, and V, are considered the "warfighting" corps. They are expected to conduct the initial attacks with the primary mission of annihilating CFC forces north of Seoul. The concept of annihilation is the key to the NKA doctrine, as it continually states the necessity to destroy enemy forces in place. The forward corps' follow-on mission is the defeat of CFC forces in depth. The remaining conventional corps, III, VI, VII, VIII, and the Capital Defense Corps (CDC) have several possible missions. These missions include providing follow-on forces, round-out forces, and serving as coastal, rear area, or capital defense forces. Dependent on the forward corps' success, the rear corps will release units to serve as replacements.
The operational objective of DPRK forces in the offense is the destruction of Combined Forces Command forces in a short duration, high intensity campaign employing maneuver warfare. To achieve these objectives, the DPRK has developed a mobile ground force emphasizing the utilization of overwhelming firepower. The latest evolution in force structure and doctrine, begun in the late 1970s, has resulted in two distinct force organizations: a large, mobile active force (including SOF) organized, trained, and deployed to carry out offensive operations against the CFC, and an extensive, well trained reserve force to defend the DPRK.
The DPRK offensive against the ROK will consist of three phases. The objective of the first phase will be to breach the defenses along the DMZ and destroy the forward deployed CFC forces. The objective of the sec-ond phase will be to isolate Seoul and consolidate gains. The objective
of the third phase will be to pursue and destroy remaining CFC forces and occupy the remainder of the peninsula.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/target/omt.htm
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Updated Wednesday, March 01, 2000 9:45:32 AM
