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| South Korea's new Hyunmoo ballistic missile is shown in a video released on Armed Forces Day, which falls on Saturday. The missile is expected to carry a warhead weighing up to 9 tons. Yonhap |
South Korean military unveils new weapon amid North Korean provocations
By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea unveiled during its Armed Forces Day celebration, Saturday, a video clip of its latest ballistic missile, which is expected to carry the largest warhead the South has developed so far.
In the video clip, the missile is shown as part of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation system, one of Seoul's "three-axis" strategies targeting North Korea's leadership, including its military headquarters. The axes also include the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike platform and the Korea Air and Missile Defense system.
Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, noted that the missile in the video clip was launched using the so-called cold launch method, in which the rocket engine is ignited after leaving the launcher and is typically used for submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
"Korea's previous Hyunmoo-2 uses the hot launch method, meaning the engine is ignited on the launch pad. However, the new missile was cold launched and we can presume that the new high- powered ballistic missile carries a heavier warhead," Shin said.
"If the warhead is heavy, it has a strong impact on a launcher. So Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) launched on a transporter erector launcher (TEL) often use the cold launch method," he added.
According to the local daily Chosun Ilbo, the ballistic missile is named Hyunmoo-5 (V) and is expected to be able to carry a warhead weighing up to nine tons, which is the heaviest for that kind of projectile. It is known to have a range of more than 3,000 kilometers if mounted with a lighter warhead weighing less than one ton, which practically makes it a medium-range missile.
"Although we cannot specify the exact size or weight of the warhead from the video, it is expected to carry the largest one Korea has ever developed," Shin said.
According to Shin, the heavier the warhead, the more destructive the missile.
"A high-power ballistic missile with a heavier warhead has increasing kinetic energy when descending, thus possessing a higher power to destroy underground facilities and bases by penetrating the ground," he said.
As North Korea fortified the country after the 1950-53 Korean War, it built over 6,000 underground facilities, mostly under granite surfaces, and the heavy warhead could be used to strike those underground facilities.
"It is expected that the missile is developed in a way to target and strike North Korean military facilities deep in underground tunnels," Shin said.
"The Hyunmoo missile series is developed in a high level of confidentiality, so we cannot identify much from the video clip, but it seems that the new missile is still in the early stage of development," he added.
The release of the clip came after Pyongyang test launched seven short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) in a week starting Sept. 25, including two missiles on Saturday, which was Seoul's Armed Forces Day.
South Korea vowed to deal sternly with North Korea's use of nuclear weapons.
"If North Korea attempts the use of nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and our military," President Yoon Suk-yeol said during the Armed Forces Day ceremony at Gyeryongdae military headquarters in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province, Saturday.
Military officials said Yoon's "resolute and overwhelming response" refers to the South's effort to deter the North's military provocations and the missile in the video is part of the effort.
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