Seoul is working out a plan to decapitate the chain of command in North Korea in case Pyongyang shows signs of using a nuclear weapon.

Brig. Gen. Cho Sang-ho, a Defense Ministry officer, said, "We will develop asymmetric strategies that give us a comparative advantage over the North, like psychological warfare, decapitation operations, intelligence advantage and precision strike capabilities."

Cho was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Korea Defense and Security Forum at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul on Thursday.

The "decapitation" operation would try to take out anyone empowered to authorize the use weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons.

The U.S. launched decapitation attacks during the Iraq War in 2003 and the Libyan Civil War in 2011.

Boo Hyung-wook of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said, "The North Korean leadership would consider a decapitation strike more threatening than a nuclear attack against any of their cities."

