The Korea Times:
The military intends to complete the development of ballistic missiles with a range of 800 kilometers and deploy them by 2017, officials said Thursday.
This is in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile capacities, officials said, noting that the 800 kilometer-range missiles will put the whole of the North within striking distance.
“The missile development plan was included in the Agency for Defense Development’s (ADD) five-year roadmap initiated by the Park Geun-hye government,” a government official told reporters, asking not to be named.
When Park was sworn in early 2013, the military only possessed ballistic missiles that have a range of 300 kilometers. This was the first time that the time frame for the extension of ballistic missiles’ range was disclosed.
The South Korean military has developed a ballistic missile with a range of 500 kilometers (Hyunmoo-2B). This was test-fired in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, in June. It is expected to be deployed to units of the Army’s missile command before the end of the year, according to officials.
The South has pursued extending the range of its ballistic missiles since October 2012 after Seoul and Washington revised the guidelines on such weapons in the South, which allowed Seoul to extend the maximum range of them to 800 kilometers from the previous limit of 300 kilometers…
