South Korea is planning to assemble a military force aimed at removing Kim Jong-un from power, according to the country’s defence minister.

Han Min-koo reportedly told the National Assembly in Seoul a unit would be put together to target the North Korean leader in the event of war between the two nations, in a process he labelled ‘the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation’ (KMPR).

The KMPR plan would be put into action as part of a three-pronged defence strategy including South Korea’s anti-missile system and ‘Kill Chain’, a pre-emptive military strike programme devised in 2014.

The minister said South Korea should maintain an army of 500,000 soldiers on active duty to counter the threat of the North’s estimated 1.2 million troops, should Kim Jong Un choose to invade.

“If it becomes clear the enemy intends to use nuclear-tipped missiles, in order to suppress its aims, the concept of the KMPR squad is to retaliate against key areas that include the North Korean leadership,” Mr Han said, according to local broadcaster News 1.

South Korea’s major parties have united on the issue of nuclear weaponry, with the opposition leader saying that if China and Russia failed to “join sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear development”, weapons must be deployed.

In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test A lab employee from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety's regional office in Gangneung, east of Seoul, checks for radioactive traces in the air, in Gangneung, soon after North Korea announced it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test. The office in Gangneung is the closest one to the site of the North's claimed test. Officials said it will take three to four days to analyze air samples in detail for any traces of radioactivity, the Yonhap news agency reported EPA In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un signing a document of a hydrogen bomb test in Pyongyang In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test People watch a TV news program showing North Korea's special announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea AP In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Kuo Kai-wen, director of Taiwan's Seismology Center, explains the locations from a monitor showing North Korea's first hydrogen bomb test site, in Taipei Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Kuo Kai-wen, director of Taiwan's Seismology Center, points at the curves chart received from Taiwan showing North Korea's first hydrogen bomb test, in Taipei Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test South Korean people watch TV news at Seoul station EPA In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Japan's meteorological agency officer Yohei Hasegawa displays a chart showing seismic activity, after a North Korean nuclear test, at the agency in Tokyo Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test Ko Yun-Hwa, administrator of Korea Meteorological Administration, briefs reporters showing seismic waves from the site of North Korea's hydrogen bomb test, at his office in Seoul Getty Images In pictures: North Korea hydrogen bomb test North Korea's border county of Kaepoong is seen from a South Korean observation post in Paju near the Demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas as North Korea announced it had successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test Getty Images

Seoul described a recent nuclear test by the North as an “act of fanatic recklessness”.