BREAKING NEWS:Gen. Lee Sun-Jin Has Been Approved...

During his confirmation hearing held earlier in the day, Lee said South Korea will hit back on the origin of attack with combat jets if the North launches another provocation like the shelling of a front-line island in 2010.The National Assembly approved Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin, who vowed to make a strong response to North Korea's provocations, as the new Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman on Monday."We could add a counterattack on the enemy's site of origin using combat planes," Lee said.
The nomination procedures will be completed when President Park Geun-hye officially confirms Lee.
The remarks were in response to a question from ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Yoo Seong-min on how he would respond if an incident such as North Korea's 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island occurs again."I will retaliate strongly so they bitterly regret the provocations," Lee noted. If North Korea carries out another provocation, it will be around the Northern Limit Line, where blue crab fishing is in high season, he said, referring to the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea.The shelling killed four South Korean marines and civilians and wounded more than a dozen others and South Korea hit back with dozens of artillery rounds at that time.Touching on the U.S.' Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, the general said South Korea has no plan yet to adopt the defense system, although its local deployment could benefit the South Korean military."At this moment, our military does not have any plan to introduce THAAD," according to the general. Touching on North Korea's nuclear capabilities, Lee said the communist country is believed to have miniaturized nuclear weapons "to a considerable extent," but whether the country has deployed them for combat use has not been confirmed yet.Lee was nominated as the next Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman last month to replace Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, whose two-year term ends in mid-October. "The military currently has weapon systems it is trying to deploy within the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system."Further asked whether KAMD, the local defense system, is sufficient to defend the country, Lee said KAMD needs further development."Any deployment of THAAD will be determined under our initiative in consideration of military benefits and national interest," he said, adding that if the U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD on South Korean soil, it would help the military.
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