South Korea develops cruise missile

[Thomas]

Reports: South Korea develops cruise missile
by KWANG-TAE KIM
Associated Press
updated 7/17/2010 12:30:45 AM ET

Reports: South Korea develops cruise missile - World news - Asia-Pacific - North Korea - msnbc.com

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has developed a long-range cruise missile capable of striking nuclear sites and military targets in North Korea, news reports said Saturday.

The Hyunmu-3C missile has a range of 930 miles (1,500 kilometers), the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing the August edition of its sister magazine Monthly Chosun.

The new missile, if confirmed, would be the longest-range weapon in South Korea's arsenal. Missile-range limits have been agreed upon under an accord with the United States, which has cited concerns over a possible regional arms race.

The surface-to-surface missile will be deployed along the border with North Korea beginning this year, the newspaper said. It has a 990-pound (450-kilogram) payload and can hit within 2 yards (meters) of its target, the report said.

Despite the agreement with the United States, South Korea can develop long-range cruise missiles as long as the payload is under 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms).

The Hyunmu-3C missile would also have the capability of hitting parts of China, Japan and Russia.

Yonhap news agency carried a similar story. Both reports cited unidentified military officials.

A spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said he could neither confirm nor deny the reports. He spoke on condition of anonymity citing policy. A Defense Ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

North Korea already has long-range missiles. The Taepodong-2 has a potential range of more than 4,100 miles (6,700 kilometers), putting Alaska within striking distance.

North and South Korea remain technically in a state of conflict because the armistice ending the 1950-53 Korean War was never replaced by a peace treaty.

 

[Thomas]

Hyunmoo III - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hyunmoo IIIC, or "Eagle-3" (독수리-3), will be capable of striking its target up to 1,500 km away. This is a significant improvement from Hyunmoo I which had a range of 180 km and Hyunmoo II, which only has a range of 300 km, both of which were ballistic and not cruise missiles.

It is powered by a turbofan engine, much like other subsonic cruise missiles of its type, and has a payload of up to 500 kilograms. The guidance systems consist of Inertial Guidance System and Global Positioning System.

The maximum payload of the missile is rated at 500 kilograms of conventional explosive.

King Sejong the Great class destroyers and KSS-III class submarines will be equipped with these missiles inside their Vertical Launching System (K-VLS).

South Korea is barred from producing a non-indigenous ballistic missile that is above a certain payload and range limit in accordance to Missile Technology Control Regime. Therefore, a heavy emphasis was put on for developing long-range cruise missiles by the South Korean government, as there is no restriction of payload amount and range limit set for them. With the introduction of Hyunmoo-III, which also has some advanced systems sometimes found on ICBMs, the Republic of Korea Army created the Missile Command in order to efficiently manage these missiles."

 

[foxhound]

South Korea develops long-range cruise missile


South Korea develops long-range cruise missile

Sunday, July 18, 2010

SEOUL: South Korea has developed a longer-range cruise missile capable of hitting nuclear or military sites in North Korea, a report said on Saturday.

The state-run Agency for Defence Development has begun manufacturing the ground-to-ground Hyunmu-3C with a range of up to 1,500-km, Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified defence 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 1,000-km. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

Under an agreement with the United States, which stations 28,500 troops in the country and guarantees a nuclear “umbrella” in case of war, Seoul limits its ballistic missiles to a maximum range of 300-km.

But it is allowed to extend the range of its terrain-hugging cruise missiles as long as their payload stays under 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds).

South Korea has pushed for longer-range weaponry to counter a threat from hundreds of North Korean ballistic missiles.

The North has about 600 Scud missiles capable of hitting targets in South Korea, and possibly also of reaching Japanese territory in some cases.

There are another 200 Rodong-1 missiles which could reach Tokyo.

In addition the North has three times test-launched intercontinental Taepodong missiles.

The two nations have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended with just an armistice and not a peace treaty.

Tensions have risen since the South and the United States, 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 — proves its point.

After the UN statement it reiterated conditional willingness to return to stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Seoul’s unification ministry which handles cross-border ties said the North appears to be preparing a diplomatic offensive to lessen tensions.

In a weekly newsletter the ministry 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 neighbour must first apologise for the attack on the ship which cost 46 lives and punish those responsible.

 

[Parashuram1]

The Korean Peninsula is heating up. I wonder what'd DPRK do in response.