South Korea and the United States have reached a tentative deal to allow Seoul to develop ballistic missiles that can reach deeper into North Korea, an official and diplomatic sources said Sunday.
The agreement will extend the range of South Korean ballistic missiles to 800 kilometers from the current 300 kilometers while keeping intact the current payload weight limit of 500 kilograms, the sources said.
Ballistic missiles with the extended range would put the whole of North Korea within reach if they were launched from South Korea's central city of Daejeon.
South Korea has sought to rewrite its missile range pact with the U.S. -- first signed in 1979 and revised in 2001 -- to counter the threat posed by North Korea's missile arsenal.
All of South Korea is within striking distance of North Korea's missiles.
South Korea and the U.S. "reached a tentative agreement," to extend the range of South Korean ballistic missiles to 800 kilometers and keep intact the payload weight to 500 kilograms, diplomatic sources said.
An unidentified South Korean official also said the two sides reached a deal on major issues, without elaborating. The sides plan to declare a new missile policy that includes the deal early next month, the sources said.
The upcoming deal could give South Korea a credible deterrence against the North Korean threat as it could then develop ballistic missiles with a range of 800 kilometers.
North Korea earlier this year threatened to strike Seoul, home to 10 million people, over the alleged defamation of its leadership, although no attack occurred.
The Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
In April, a long-range rocket launched by North Korea exploded soon after lift-off and the U.N. Security Council swiftly condemned the launch.
The North had claimed the launch was intended to put a satellite into orbit but South Korea and the United States deemed it a cover for testing the North’s ballistic missile technology. (Yonhap)