South Korean Nuclear Sites Could Be Targeted For Devastating Sabotage

via Korean Hydro Nuclear Power CompanyRussian analysts have recently expressed concern about the destruction of South Korean nuclear sites, through either covert sabotage or direct attack.

North Korea is well known for a few military capabilities: missiles, (which the ROK and U.S. say they've got covered with Patriots and Aegis destroyers), artillery, and a 200,000-strong force of Special Purpose operators.

While an all-out artillery barrage might be too aggressive, recent reports have warned of a tactical strike or possibly something "sneaky and creative."

From a piece in RIA Novosti:

Radioactive fallout from South Korean nuclear plants blown up by enemy saboteurs could be, for Russia, the worst consequence of a possible Korean war – should one happen, Russian analysts said.

The four running nuclear plants, which produce roughly a third of South Korea's energy needs, represent such a danger to Russia and China that President Vladimir Putin said their destruction would make “Chernobyl … seem like child’s play.”

The ROK's plants all sit on the coasts, making it an easy-to-reach prospect for North Korean maritime raid forces. Though nuclear security is likely very high, North Korean commandos should not be brushed aside lightly.

They have a vast network of spies, and have been accused of several hundred abductions, to include the high-visibility kidnapping of a South Korean actress and her director husband.

They've also used stealthy means to steal their way into South Korean territory, often for assassinations, and once even to attempt a direct assault on the president.

Still, most analysts say to expect a light skirmish, that North Korea dare not risk elevating tension to an all-out war — if anything, simply out of self-preservation.

“Expecting a war just because of North Korean statements is like expecting rapture in the immediate future just because the Pope gave a sermon about sin in the world,” Andrei Lankov, a Russian expert in Korean studies who teaches at the Kookmin University in Seoul, quipped to RIA Novosti.