[Issue Plus] Ukra launches "A-Tax"...Putin's 'nuclear card' counters

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Tae Sang-ho, military reporter

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News PLUS] when quoting.

[Anchor]
Ukraine carried out the attack two days after reports that the U.S. had authorized the launch of a long-range missile, Attax, towards mainland Russia.

[Anchor]
Russia is also increasingly concerned about escalation as it effectively includes Ukraine as a target of nuclear attack. Let's point out the related content with Tae Sang-ho, a military reporter. Please come in.

[Anchor]
It's already been 1,000 days since Russia invaded Ukraine yesterday. But rather than calming down, I think it's really entering a war of words. You shot him six times at dawn yesterday, right?

[Taeho]
We shot six times, and we thought the area we expected was actually the Kursk neighborhood, but the neighborhood is right. Hit the Bryansk region, slightly next to Kursk. And it's not a general facility, but an area that combines ammunition windows and supply windows for us. So, from Russia's point of view, it fired six shots, five shots were intercepted, and one shot that was hit was also slightly damaged, so it was not properly destroyed, but the Ukrainian side says it has properly defeated the target they want.

This area is not Kursk, so you might think why did you hit that area? It is an important military facility located on the main supply route from Russia to the Ukrainian front. So, of course, I hit where I could hit.

[Anchor]
Both sides are making their point. Russia was no big deal. Ukraine was a successful hit, which one do you think is more credible?

[Taeho]
You can look at it like this. Usually, when we attack important military facilities in war, if we have missiles, we don't shoot just one shot. You just have to shoot several shots and get one of them right. So, first of all, it's right that one foot fell, so I'd like to say that Ukraine is more reliable.

[Anchor]
I heard it's hard to intercept them. I heard you're picky.

[Taeho]
We commonly call it the Army Guided Missile System, but it does maneuver rather than just fly like a ballistic missile. It's not an easy missile to intercept compared to a typical ballistic missile because it evades and changes its flight method at the last minute. However, if you have a proper air defense system, it is a weapon system that can intercept.

[Anchor]
Is there anything similar in our military system that operates something like this right now?

[Taeho]
Not long ago, the development was successful and even exported, but I can tell you that a very similar system has been exported to Poland, and other countries can't reveal it now. [Anchor] Why is Attacks in the spotlight as a game changer?

[Taeho]
In what circumstances can A-Tax receive attention as a game changer, but if you look at it now, the range of conventional Ukrainian artillery is about 40km. The range of the weapon system called HIMARS that we know well is 80 kilometers. That's why major Russian military facilities were mainly installed 80 kilometers away from where Ukrainian forces could hit them.

However, if the Attax is operated and the U.S. lifts the range limit, more than 300 other major facilities located could be hit at any time if Ukraine decides to. In this case, we have no choice but to push the distance itself and important facilities 300km away. This could lead to longer supply lines and a decrease in Russia's ability to sustain the war.

[Anchor]
Since it's a tactical ballistic missile, the price per unit will be expensive. How powerful is it?

[Taeho]
There is a slight price difference depending on what kind of warhead it is. The price is mostly just over a billion won per shot. In terms of our money, you can think of it as exceeding 1 billion won. Warheads are just high bombs. I mean, 500 wave
There's one single high-bomb containing Wund's TNT, and the other is a diffused bomb that generates self-combustion. So, it is a weapon system that can choose and use the two types of bullets as desired.

[Anchor]
Then, is it powerful enough to smash a building?

[Taeho]
That's right. If you have to overpower a target with a dot, you can use a single ballistic missile to collapse a building, and you have to hit it with a single bullet. Then you can fire diffusing bullets.

[Anchor]
The Times, a British daily, reported that there are currently about 50 Atax owned by Ukraine. How powerful can it be?

[Taeho]
If it's about 50th, didn't you say there were about 300 important targets that I told you about earlier? But if you can hit 300 to 50, then the power is considerable. Those 300 are the support centers that continue to support the Russian military from behind so that it can demonstrate its ability to sustain the war. Fifty of them fly away. Then, the ability to continue the war will inevitably suffer a lot.

And the U.S. or... there's another long-range strike weapon from the U.K. and France called Storm Shadow. This, too, will be a significant blow to Russia if the two weapons systems are operated together if the range is released.

[Anchor]
The name is unusual. What kind of weapon is a storm shadow?

[Taeho]
Storm Shadow is a weapon system developed by the UK and France together. At first, it was an air-to-ground cruise missile. In other words, it is a weapon system that is mounted on a fighter plane or projected on a transport plane. The range is quite long. I can hit 560km.

However, the export was limited to about 250 kilometers according to the missile limit. Since it was put into practice at the beginning of the Lark match, it is a weapon system that is more than 20 years old, but because it is very sophisticated, it is said that the 5th Communist Party is only a few meters long.

[Anchor]
By the way, the US has allowed the use of Attax only in Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine, not the Russian mainland, but suddenly President Biden has not lifted the restrictions? What's the reason?

[Taeho]
The superficial and various reasons are coming out through the media. Among them, the first thing researchers feel is that the reason is right even if they are the most conservative. Therefore, we should teach the North Korean military a lesson by sending the North Korean troops. In a way, it should be taught a harsh lesson so that more troops or support should not be sent. There's something like this.

Another is Russia's recent large-scale bombing of civilian areas in Ukraine. And that's why I felt that I needed to strike long distances, or airfields, or sources of bombing, in order to reduce that bombing a little bit.

[Anchor]
So, you're now late for what Ukraine demanded from the beginning of the war, but that's why you provided it?

[Taeho]
You can see it that way, but in a very timely way, the really bad things are united. North Korea sent troops just in time. Although they haven't made it official yet. And since the regime in the United States is changing, we need to do something now for the United States.

Another important thing is that there is one Russian land now occupied by Ukraine. It's the Kursk region. Until the ceasefire in the Kursk region, Ukraine must secure it so that something can be played out during the ceasefire talks. But now Russia is a North Korean soldier and is concentrating its reserve forces on Kursk. What it means is that we're going to re-occupy Kursk and restore it before the ceasefire. So I can tell you that the military confrontation between the two sides is now taking place in that way.

[Anchor]
That's why there is an interpretation of President Joe Biden's last gift to Ukraine before he leaves office.

[Taeho]
It's a little ambiguous to call it a gift. From the standpoint of the United States, I can tell you that this is the best and most positive military support that we can give to Ukraine right now.

[Anchor]
At the UN Security Council meeting, our representative is different from the situation in the Korean War. When you come up with the idea of a blackout. In what way is the Ukraine-Russia war different from the situation when the Korean War comes to a truce?

[Taeho]
In fact, at the time of the Korean War, there was a firm line. Although they pushed and pushed each other, there was a firm line, but in this case, Ukraine is definitely behind on the eastern front, but in the north, Ukraine has occupied Russia. So it's actually a little bit of a problem for us to think about saying that it's the same as 6.25 because there are two wires. But it's true that there are similarities to 6.25 as well.

[Anchor]
President Biden and President Zelensky of Ukraine also seem to be in a hurry before Trump took office. There is a plan that Trump pressured Ukraine to end the war on unfavorable terms. Isn't there a report like this?

[Taeho]
Usually, if you think about it from a military standpoint, nothing goes right because you make a hasty decision. As we saw with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. forces were rushing to withdraw, and bad problems continued to emerge. Also in Ukraine, if Trump is elected and comes back to power on January 1st, he can make a ceasefire as soon as he is elected, and he will make a ceasefire.

[Anchor]
on the 20th of January

[Taeho]
On January 20, they said they could declare a ceasefire right away. If that happens, it's too hasty. So before that, you'll want to do everything you can.

[Anchor]
The biggest concern now is whether it will expand further, shrink, or cease to exist here. How do you view it?

[Taeho]
It's in a state of exhaustion right now, and isn't January 20th getting closer? I'm sure they want to use the most obvious and greatest resources available to each other to get to a more advantageous position.

[Anchor]
So, what will happen after January 20th?

[Taeho]
It's Trump and his selections. So, it depends on how the defense minister and the security chiefs move. The biggest problem is that the biggest problem is not the people we knew, but the new ones. So it can be seen as a situation in which we can't rush to see how we can do fortune telling because they can move differently from established politicians or established bureaucrats.

[Anchor]
In this situation, President Putin did not stay put when Ukraine hit the Russian mainland for the first time with the U.S. attack. I talked about what seemed to be referring to the use of nuclear weapons. I have revised the nuclear doctrine amendment. There is also a possibility of nuclear retaliation, what do you think?

[Taeho]
If you take a look at the doctrines revised a little bit, there are some important things, which reliably provide a nuclear umbrella to Belarus. This has been around for a long time. Even if one of the things that changed the most from the doctrine of 2020 is a country that doesn't have nuclear weapons, we can retaliate with nuclear weapons if we threaten or attack our security with the support of a country that has nuclear weapons, this is the biggest change. This is exactly what I'm saying to Ukraine.

So there are many researchers who evaluate that the door is open, and you have to think very conservatively about whether to cross that line. Because when we talk about weapons systems, we divide them into conventional weapons systems and nuclear weapons. In the middle of it, there is a red line that we can easily talk about but cannot easily cross. No one has crossed that line yet. No nuclear weapons have been used since World War II. But if Putin decides to cross that line, he should be prepared to put down everything he has.

[Anchor]
However, isn't this the first time that Russia has officially announced that a nuclear attack on a non-nuclear country is possible in some cases, even though senior Russian officials warned that the West would allow Ukraine to attack the mainland using long-range weapons?

In a way, it seems that we have put it at a turning point, but Washington's response is rather grave. There was a New York Times report that said they were only interested in their personnel affairs, but their threats were just flashy threats.

[Taeho]
As I said a little while ago, there's a really strong red line between conventional and nuclear weapons. If you go beyond that, you will not only put down everything you have, but it will also be recorded in history. Therefore, it cannot be easily crossed, and perhaps that is why the response in Washington is not very new because such threats have been received. I think there's a certain amount of background to the idea that if there's more solid data and evidence, we'll react.

[Anchor]
President-elect Trump always confidently talked about the end of the war when he was a candidate. Considering the relationship with President Putin, how can the two of you start a conversation? If you do, what do you expect will be exchanged?

[Taeho]
That prospect is actually not my area of expertise, but if you listen to the people involved in the U.S., Trump is not an established politician and he still has a strong business temperament, so he would hardly think about his relationship before that, his relationship with Putin before that, or anything like that. I think it is more important to find out exactly where Trump wants to go because he is evaluated as a person who can go in any direction if it helps the United States and helps Trump himself.

[Anchor]
Isn't there a report that President Biden has approved an anti-personnel mine attack on Ukraine following Attacks? What's this?

[Taeho]
I looked it up because it was called an anti-personnel mine, and the Washington Post completely printed Cremoa. However, as those who have been trained in our military know, Cremoa has been said in the media that it is a landmine that runs out of batteries or is neutralized over time, but they say it is a directional landmine.

It is a weapon system that is installed in a place where the enemy can access it and attacks it with a remote control or critical wire, but is it a threat to civilians? If you set up a critical wire and the civilian approaches it without knowing it, of course, it can be dangerous to the civilian. But I can tell you that the risk is a little lower than other ordinary mines.

[Anchor]
A special Ukrainian mission is known to visit Korea next week. What kind of weapons would you want if you asked our country for another weapons aid?

[Taeho]
We're already talking a lot. The weapon system they want now is attack and defense, and they want to get their hands on all weapon systems. However, from the perspective of the Korean government, if I summarize the weapons systems that can support them, I think it will go toward defensive weapons, so personally, it is a celestial missile, a jingu, or a portable missile. Or it can be said that there is a high possibility that such a weapon system that can defend against air like a thousand horses will be supported. And because there is a very lack of artillery firepower right now, I think you will want 150mm of artillery shell support.

[Anchor]
And according to the NIS today, North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been deployed to the local airborne brigade and the Marine Corps to receive tactical and drone response training, and some of them are believed to have participated in the battle. What do you think?

[Taeho]
I think the local information of the NIS comes in very accurately. Because even militarily, if they send troops, they suffer more damage at once. You have to adapt to the local area. Now that they've been dispatched in a hurry, the best thing they can do is divide up the troops, some of them train at the training center in the back, and some of them go to the front and join the Russian troops that they're going to fight with, and they're going to fight on a small scale. So, by sharing that knowledge and experience, I can tell you that there is a possibility of taking on a certain area as the number of North Korean troops increases in the future.

[Anchor]
How likely is the North Korean military to pose a threat to us by experiencing the modern war of the 21st century?

[Tae Sang-ho]
First of all, the North Korean military has never experienced actual combat. In fact, we've sent a few military advisers to Africa, and we've sent pilots and air defense personnel to Vietnam, and it's the first time we've sent a proper combat force. And in some ways, the modern war itself has changed because of the war in Ukraine. And many people expect that there will be a war like this in the future.

So what I'm concerned about and many people are concerned about is that North Korea is going through the real world first and then getting a lot of data from Russia in a place we haven't been to, which is likely to pose a significant threat to us in the future.

[Anchor]
On the other hand, the National Intelligence Service confirmed that North Korea exported 170mm self-propelled artillery and 240mm multiple rocket launchers following artillery shells and missiles. What does this mean?

[Taeho]
First of all, there are many meanings. Weapon systems that North Korea has sold or supported to Russia. Especially if you look at the shell, it's 152mm, or 122mm. The weapons are artillery shells that are compatible with the artillery forces operated by Russia. Now 170mm and 240mm, especially 170mm, Russia's own artillery doesn't have the ability to fire.

In other words, there are no shells and no grapes. In other words, now that I've used up 152mm or 122mm, I have to pull it up to 170mm and use it. That's why it could be one of the proofs that the current situation that Russia is in now is so deteriorated.

Another is that the 170mm and 240mm weapon systems themselves have a considerably long range. That's why I think it also shows that they are projecting force with some protection from Haimas or Ukrainian artillery forces shooting long distances.

[Anchor]
Now, the National Intelligence Service understands that there are about 11,000 soldiers, but Ukrainian President Zelensky said that it could increase to 100,000. What's the basis for this number?

[Taeho]
The story of 100,000 people is continuously coming out. 11,000 is the number that's going on right now. However, I've been to the battlefield, but the stress of going to the battlefield is considerable, so if you keep sending troops to the battlefield for a certain period of time or longer, it'll backfire later. So you have to rotate it.

You have to give them a shift, but in that case, about 100,000 people must be prepared to make the shift easier. So I think 100,000 is a number that includes the forces that are going to go forward and the forces that are going to support them.

[Anchor]
I see. So far, we have reviewed the contents related to Tae Sang-ho, a military reporter. Thank you.