South Korea Prepared To Kill North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un If Necessary

Disputes among neighbors are no rarity. However, this one is not your regular family feud over loud music or wrong trashcan use. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite; it’s a quarrel over nuclear weapons — something that certainly sounds like a 40-years-ago issue.

South Korea has an elite military squad prepared to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if necessary, the former’s Defense Minister Han Min-koo said last Wednesday. If S. Korea see clear sings of a threat, it will "take action,” the Minister explicated, adding this was part of a wider "Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation" (KMPR) plan, launched right after its neighbor’s fifth nuclear test, less than 20 days ago.

Related Link: Kim Jong-Un Still Seeking Weapons That Work

“The KMPR targets North Korean leadership, including its military headquarters, with a preemptive strike that includes teams of highly trained commandos and simultaneous missile attacks capable of precision strikes, in case of the North's nuclear attack on the South,” the Korea Times article that initially covered the issue read.

Shares of the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund(ETF) EWY have gained more than 3.5 percent over the past five trading days. Over the same period, the DBX ETF Trust DBKO, the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI South Korea Hedged Equity ETF, spiked more than 2 percent; the First Trust Exchange Traded AlphaDEX Fund II FKO, or First Trust South Korea AlphaDEX Fund, almost 4 percent; and the WisdomTree Korea Hedged Equity Fund DXKW surged 3.7 percent.

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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.

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Posted In: NewsEmerging MarketsEmerging Market ETFsPoliticsGlobalMarketsETFsGeneralKim Jong UnKim Jong-unNorth KoreaSouth Korea
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