S. Korea's defense efforts to get boost

SEOUL, June 26 (UPI) -- South Korean officials unveiled plans to revise the country's long-term national defense plan to head off potential offensives by North Korea.

The Defense Reform Plan 2020, approved by President Lee Myung-bak Friday, stresses the importance of expanding high-tech military equipment capable of monitoring and striking North Korean nuclear and missile facilities, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

The revisions come as tensions grow on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang's underground nuclear test and missile firings last month.

South Korea's military "should reinforce its capacity to perform surveillance and reconnaissance, conduct precision-guided strikes and make interceptions," the plan said.

"If it becomes clear that North Korea is moving to hit us with (a) nuclear and missile arsenal, we will hit its bases as quickly as possible to prevent launches no matter where they are," a senior official told Yonhap.

"But we don't by any means have any intention to consider a preemptive strike on North Korean bases when there is no clear evidence of an imminent attack," he said.

The plan costs an estimated $466 billion.