The Korea Times:
The military has begun a project to upgrade the Patriot air defense system to better protect Seoul and its surrounding area from threats from North Korea’s short-range ballistic missiles, officials said Tuesday.
The goal of the project is to upgrade the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC) 2 system deployed at units in the capital and its surrounding area to the PAC-3 version by 2022.
The move comes amid concerns that Seoul will be left out of the coverage range of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to be set up in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province next year.
The metropolitan area is home to more than 40 percent of the nation’s 51.6 million people and major areas include the capital city, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
As the first step, the military is currently working on upgrading the PAC-2 system deployed at a unit in Gangwon Province to the PAC-3 version.
