South Korea has developed a longer-range cruise missile capable of hitting nuclear or military sites in North Korea, a report said yesterday.
The state-run Agency for Defense Development has begun manufacturing the ground-to-ground Hyunmu-3C with a range of up to 1,500km, Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified defense official as saying.
The Hyunmu-3C missile would also be able to reach parts of China, Japan and Russia. The previous version of the Hyunmu had a range of only 1,000km. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Under an agreement with the US, which has 28,500 troops stationed in the country and provides a nuclear “umbrella,” Seoul limits its ballistic missiles to a maximum range of 300km. However, it is allowed to extend the range of its terrain-hugging cruise missiles as long as the payload stays under 500kg.
South Korea has pushed for longer-range weaponry to counter the threat posed by hundreds of North Korean ballistic missiles.
The North has about 600 Scud missiles capable of hitting targets in South Korea. It also has another 200 Rodong-1 missiles that could reach Tokyo. In addition the North has test-launched intercontinental Taepodong missiles three times.
The two nations have remained technically at war since their 1950-1953 conflict ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Tensions have risen since the South and the US, citing the findings of a multinational investigation, accused the North of torpedoing a South Korean warship near the tense sea border in March.
The North angrily denies involvement and says a UN Security Council statement on July 9 — which condemned the attack without specifying the culprit — exoneratres it.
After the UN statement the North reiterated its conditional willingness to return to stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
In a weekly newsletter Seoul’s unification ministry which handles cross-border ties said the North seems willing to “turn the critical mood around through active dialogue” following the UN statement, which Pyongyang claimed as a diplomatic victory.
The South says its neighbor must first apologize for the attack on the ship which cost 46 lives and punish those responsible.
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