Korea Herald – Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Monday that it was reinforcing its missile defense system, while maintaining that further analysis is needed to determine whether the short-range missiles fired by North Korea last week were ballistic missiles.
Since North Korea fired multiple projectiles into the East Sea on May 4 and again Thursday, the South Korean government has delayed revealing the types of projectiles that were launched. The Defense Ministry confirmed that Thursday’s incident involved two short-range missiles, but did not clarify whether they were ballistic or cruise missiles.
As concerns are rising over military capabilities to identify and defend against missile threats, the Defense Ministry said it was constructing a defense system that could effectively deal with any kind of threat.
“(South Korea’s) military has been building a missile defense system for the past 10 years. We will continue to construct a terminal phase intercepting defense system based on the Patriot (missile defense system). And we will continue to reinforce our missile defense capabilities,” Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said during a regular press briefing.
