President Trump has demanded the evacuation of 230,000 American citizens currently resident in South Korea as part of a drill named Courageous Channel, military sources reveal.
The operation, set to take place in June, will prepare for the safe exit of almost a quarter of a million Americans in the case of conflict with North Korea.
If Kim Jong-un carries through with his threats to attack, hundreds of thousands of American civilians, including military dependents residing in the capital city Seoul, could be in the line of fire.
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Express.co.uk reports:
According to reports, the reclusive state would activate sleeper agents in the South to direct missile and artillery fire.
It is estimated that the North has the capability to fire, using rocket-assisted projectiles, 500,000 rounds of both mortar ammunition and chemical weapons on Seoul in just the first hour of war.
Mr Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula in response to rising tension over the North’s nuclear and missile tests.
But Kim Jong-un’s hermit state remained defiant with the nation’s ruling Workers’ Party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, saying: “Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear powered aircraft carrier with a single strike.”
The last Courageous Channel was held just after the North’s fifth nuclear test in September and was very realistic with participants flown outside of the peninsula.
The issue regarding the reclusive north isn’t likely to fade from prominence anytime soon. In fact, analysts are already speculating another missile or even nuclear test could be in the works for tomorrow, which marks the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army.
North Korea said on Friday the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula was “extremely perilous” because of “madcap American nuclear war manoeuvres aimed at trampling on our sovereignty and right to survival”.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai