Deterrents to a Hamas-style North Korea border raid

The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel was surprising in many aspects. The motorized paragliders, despite their slow speed, served as a wake-up call for countries dealing with potential border infiltration issues.

The graphic videos depicting hostages being abducted across the breached “smart fence” were certainly horrifying, particularly for the Republic of Korea (ROK): The Israeli fence is modeled after South Korea’s, with its cutting-edge sensors and closed-circuit TV situated in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Yet, despite subsequent heated debates in National Assembly hearings, it seems the ROK is safe for now, for several reasons. These include distinct operational environments and recently upgraded defense and radar systems.

The geographical difference between the flat southern regions of Israel and the mountainous DMZ, which is laden with countless landmines and air-defense guns, makes a direct comparison unfeasible.

Also, the ROK does not experience a daily influx of workers crossing the border, a factor that enabled some working visa-holding Palestinians to turn into belligerents on October 7.

Lastly, the ROK’s indigenous TPS-880K multifunctional radar, recently fielded by LIG (a LG subsidiary), can detect very small drones and paramotors within a nine-mile range and a little more than a mile in altitude.

The radar can instantly issue C4 (command, control, comms, and computer) orders to varying types of air-defense guns, as well as the low-altitude combined anti-aircraft weapon (Bi-ho Hybrid) and ROK sentries, serving as the linchpin of the integration of the ROK’s DMZ weaponry.

While human error is always possible, as was evidenced by a North Korean drone that infiltrated Seoul last year, the integrated,