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| A Hyunmoo 2A missile |
By Jun Ji-hye
The military plans to increase the number of Hyunmoo surface-to-surface ballistic and cruise missiles that can simultaneously strike missile bases all across North Korea in a time of war, sources said Sunday.
This is part of Seoul's plan to establish the "Kill Chain" preemptive strike and Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) systems by the 2020s.
South Korea is currently operating Hyunmoo 2A and 2B short-range ballistic missiles with maximum ranges of 300 and 500 kilometers, respectively, and Hyunmoo 3 cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers. The military refused to disclose how many Hyunmoo missiles are currently in place, and how many will be added.
"The military will increase operational deployment and combat reserves of Hyunmoo missiles," a source said on condition of anonymity.
The plan has been drawn based on awareness that the North may launch its missiles all at once against the South if it starts another war and of the need for the Seoul to conduct preemptive strikes if intelligence agencies detect an imminent threat, the source explained.
Pyongyang is known to have some 1,000 missiles.
Last month, Defense Minister Han Min-koo also said during a session of the National Assembly that Seoul has developed the concept of the three-pillar systems composed of the Kill Chain, the KAMD and Hyunmoo ballistic missiles.
"Relevant plans have been considerably developed and brought into shape," he told lawmakers.
According to the 2014 Defense White Paper, the isolated state operationally deployed four kinds of ballistic missiles ― Scud-B, which has a range of up to 300 kilometers; Scud-C, which has a range of 500 kilometers; Nodong, which has a range of 1,300 kilometers; and Musudan, with a range of over 3,000 kilometers.
Scuds are capable of striking the entire Korean Peninsula, while the Nodong can hit a target on the Japanese mainland and Okinawa. The Musudan can reach Guam.
The North is also believed to be developing its abilities to build a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on its KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) to hit the U.S. mainland.
Hyunmoo missiles were jointly developed by the state-run Agency for Defense Development and local defense company LIG Nex1.
