South Korea to create unit to decapitate N Korean leadership

Seoul: South Korea is accelerating plans to create a special military unit tasked with decapitating North Korea's leadership in the event of war as it looks for options to counter its rival's nuclear weapons and missiles.

An official from Seoul's Defence Ministry said today that the brigade, which will aim to remove the North's wartime command and paralyse its function if war breaks out, will be launched this year. The unit was originally planned to be ready by 2019.

North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and a slew of rocket test firings last year in attempts to expand its nuclear weapons and missile programme.