'South Korea has a plan to annihilate Pyongyang'

Pyongyang 'will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosives shells' if need be: sources

South Korea has a well-prepared plan to obliterate its arch-rival North Korea if the latter implies doing nuclear attack against it, reports from Seoul say.

Pyongyang “will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosives shells” if need be, a military source told Yonhap news agency, which is close to South Korean government and is publicly funded.

Last Friday, North Korea’s sent chills to the international community by carrying out its fifth, and largest nuclear test.



Following the tests, the United States said it was considering its own sanctions besides UN Security Council, Japan and South Korea to impose on the recluse state.

Pyongyang responded to the US statement and termed the "meaningless sanctions... highly laughable".

The South Korean military official said the hideouts of the North’s leadership will be particularly targeted in case of any threat. The city, he said, "will be reduced to ashes and removed from the map".



However, many experts believe the South is using the same rhetoric that is used by the North. South Korea government has been facing criticism within the country for isolating the North that has failed to deter its nuclear ambitions.

The US special envoy to North Korea says Washington would consider taking unilateral action against Pyongyang.

"North Korea continues to present a growing threat to the region, to our allies, to ourselves, and we will do everything possible to defend against that growing threat," Sung Kim said. "In addition to sanctions in the Security Council, both the US and Japan, together with [South Korea], will be looking at any unilateral measures as well as bilateral measures as well as possible trilateral cooperation."

North Korea in a latest statement said the test was of a "nuclear warhead that has been standardised to be able to be mounted on strategic ballistic rockets". Some experts believe its explosive yield would be 20 kilotonnes or more. It is pertinent to mention that the US nuclear bomb on Hiroshima had the yield of about 15 kilotonnes.

The article originally appeared on BBC