Seoul defense officials say President Park Geun-hye personally watched over the successful launch Wednesday at a firing range in the southern part of South Korea.
The missile has a range of 500 kilometers and can hit anywhere in North Korea, according to the officials, who add the technology will be deployed by the end of the year.
The weapon was developed by Seoul following a 2012 agreement with the U.S. that nearly tripled the allowable maximum range of the South's ballistic missiles.
South Korea has expanded its ballistic missile arsenal in response to the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea recently said it conducted a successful submarine-launched ballistic missile test, which would greatly extend the range of the North's ballistic missiles.
Pyongyang also said last month that it has perfected the technology needed to mount a miniaturized nuclear warhead on a long-range ballistic missile.
A significant number of foreign and military analysts have said those claims are likely exaggerated, but warn that Pyongyang is making progress on both fronts.
voanews.com
3/6/15
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South Korea's military test-fired a ballistic missile with a range of at least 500 km under President Park Geun-hye's observation, the presidential office said on Wednesday...
ReplyDeletePark visited the Anheung firing range in southwest South Korea for the first time in 30 years in the capacity of the head of state.
The state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) test- launched the ballistic missile, named Hyunmoo-2B, with a range of more than 500 km that covers all areas of the Korean Peninsula.
The successful development of medium-range ballistic missile came about two and a half years after the United States and South Korea revised guideline on ballistic missiles in October 2012.
Under the guideline revision, South Korea was allowed to expand the range of missiles from 300 km to 800 km. The ADD is reportedly developing a ballistic missile with a range of 800 km.
The developed 500-km missiles are forecast to be deployed to military bases under the Army's missile command by the end of this year.
If deployed, the missiles would strike nuclear and missile bases of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in emergency situations as part of the Kill Chain and the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) systems, which the South Korean military is building as its own missile defense program.
The test-firing of missiles came after the DPRK recently announced its capability of miniaturizing nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted onto ballistic missiles.
The DPRK is reportedly to have deployed Scud missiles with a range of 300-550 km, Rodong missiles ranging from 1,000 km to 1, 300 km and Musudan missiles covering areas of about 3,000 km.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/925159.shtml