Seoul will cover NK with ballistic missiles

Seoul and Washington have agreed on extending the range of Korean ballistic missiles to 800 kilometers from the current 300 kilometers. This photo shows Korea’s self-developed ballistic missile unveiled in April. Yonhap

New agreement with US allows S. Korea to hike range to 800km

The government said Sunday that it has reached an agreement with Washington, allowing it to develop longer-range ballistic missiles with bigger warheads that will put the whole of North Korea within striking range.

Chun Yung-woo, a senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security, said the revised guidelines call for extending the range of South Korean ballistic missiles from the current 300 kilometers to 800 kilometers, a distance far enough to reach the northern tip of North Korea from Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

Chun said that the two sides agreed to a trade-off clause under which Seoul will also develop missiles with payloads weighing 1,000 kilograms, up from the current limit of 500 kilograms, if their ranges are reduced to 550 kilometers.

Under a bilateral 2001 agreement, Seoul was obligated to limit its missile range to 300 kilometers and payload weight to 500 kilograms. Prior to that, the South adhered to a 180 kilometer cap on missile ranges in an agreement reached with Washington in 1979 as part of non-proliferation efforts.

Chun noted that the two allies have also decided to lift the current 500 kilogram payload limit imposed on South Korean unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to 2.5 tons.

“The most important purpose for our government was to receive the missile guideline that lies in deterring armed provocations by the North,” Chun said.

“We will secure effective and various means to incapacitate the North’s nuclear and missile capabilities and safeguard the lives and safety of our people if Pyongyang launches armed attacks.”

Maj. Gen. Shin Won-sik, policy planning director at the Ministry of National Defense, said the agreement will significantly strengthen Seoul’s deterrence against the North without posing a threat to neighboring countries, such as China and Japan.

He said warheads of up to 2 tons can be put on missiles if the range remains at 300 kilometers.

“Nearly all of the North’s major military targets are located within 300 kilometers from the border,” Shin said, adding that a 1-ton bomb can destroy a target the size of 100 football grounds.

He said that the missile guidelines with the U.S. do not restrict the South from researching and developing missiles with greater payloads and ranges.

“There is no restriction on Korea’s research and development of missiles with a range greater than 800 kilometers, including the production of a prototype,” Shin said.

He noted that the guidelines only put restraints on deployment, and that the South has already accumulated necessary technology to develop and deploy missiles with a range of 800 kilometers.

Shin stressed that Washington complied with all of Seoul’s demands. He said he sees no reason to extend the range greater than 800 kilometers to provoke unnecessary tensions with neighboring countries.

He said South Korean officials visited China, Russia and Japan over the few weeks to explain about the planned revision of missile guidelines.

“None of the countries expressed opposition to our plan to extend the missile range to 800 kilometers to cover the entire North,” Shin said. <The Korea Times/Lee Tae-hoon>

news@theasian.asia