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By Jun Ji-hye
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.
During a parliamentary audit on Sept. 11, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) also hinted at putting the final touches on the development of the 800 kilometer range ballistic missile.
When Rep. Kim Kwang-jin of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy asked whether there was space for the military to test-fire such missiles, a JCS official answered: "We are considering test-firing it over open waters south of Ieodo."
Ieodo is South Korean territory; a submerged rock south of Jeju Island
The JCS later explained the official's comment did not mean that the military had an immediate plan to test-fire a weapon, but just intended to say that there was space.
If the South completes deployment of ballistic missiles that have ranges of 500 and 800 kilometers by 2017, and introduces two Global Hawks, Northrop Grumman's very-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, in 2018 and 2019, respectively, it will be able to operate the nation's own Kill Chain preemptive strike.
The South is also developing the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system to counter missile threats from the North.
Pyongyang has been modernizing its ballistic missiles and delivery systems.
The North allegedly launched a ballistic missile from a submarine in May, even though the prototype is still years away from completed development, according to experts. The repressive state also claimed that it had already developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on its missiles.
According to the 2014 Defense White Paper, the reclusive state operationally deployed four kinds of ballistic missiles ― the Scud-B, which has a range of up to 300 kilometers; Scud-C, 500 kilometers; Nodong, 1,300 kilometers; and Musudan, 3,000 kilometers.
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