US military pulls back curtain on nuclear weapons-proof bunker in South Korea
Command Post Theater Air Naval Ground Operations shown to select media outlets amid ongoing Freedom Shield exercise between 2 allies
ANKARA
The US military for the first time showed select media outlets a top secret nuclear weapons-proof bunker complex in South Korea, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Command Post Theater Air Naval Ground Operations (CP Tango) complex, which serves as a command center for joint operations, was unveiled amid ongoing Freedom Shield exercises between the two allies, local English daily Korea Joongang reported.
US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera led a small group of invited journalists on Saturday through the complex, which was constructed in the 1970s but only officially disclosed in 2005.
Spanning approximately 33,000 square meters (355,200 square feet), CP Tango includes multiple rooms of various sizes, clustered along a large central corridor with walls of reinforced concrete and exposed rock.
Lying hidden underground at an undisclosed location in the Seoul capital region, the entire complex is shielded by multiple blast-proof doors.
It is designed to serve as the allies’ primary headquarters to direct military operations against North Korea if hostilities break out on the Korean Peninsula.
The complex has the capacity to store food and other supplies for two months for up to 500 South Korean and US soldiers.
It also hosts a sensitive compartmented information facility where American – but not South Korean – service members can access information gathered by the CIA, National Security Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency.
Capacity to ‘swiftly eliminate’ North Korean leadership in case of war urged
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Wednesday called on the country’s special operations troops to equip themselves with capabilities to "swiftly eliminate" the North Korean leadership if it starts a war on Seoul.
He made the call at the Army Special Warfare Command in Icheon, southeast of Seoul, as US and South Korea have been conducting the Freedom Shield exercise since last week to boost deterrence against the Pyongyang’s threats.
"If Kim Jong-un starts a war, as a key unit of Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation, you must become the world's strongest special operations unit to swiftly eliminate the enemy leadership," Shin was quoted as saying by Seoul-based Yonhap News.
