S. Korea’s cruise missile much faster than N. Korea’s, says Moon

On Sept. 16, the day after South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine launched ballistic missile that had been developed with homegrown technology, President Moon Jae-in is quoted belatedly as saying, “We succeeded in the development of a cruise missile, which is meaningful given that ours is much faster than North Korea’s.” He stressed the South’s superiority in military power over the North amid Pyongyang’s successive missile provocations.

“The significance of successful development of other strategic weapons has not been informed sufficiently to the public as SLBM has outshined the others” Moon told a meeting of presidential aides on the day. “I hope experts will proactively advertise this, so that the public will take pride and have self-confidence, This has been publicized by presidential spokesperson Park Soo-hyun through Facebook on Saturday.

“I was very happy to see the successful test-firing of a missile by the Agency for Defense Development yesterday. It was test-firing of a long-range missile targeting western waters off Jeju Island. It was regrettable that the exact position of the missile at the moment of striking the target was not captured clearly due to bad weathers at the site, but it was a success,” Moon said. “We also succeeded in the test-firing of a surface-to-air missile and if it is mounted on the KF-21, the supersonic fighter jet under development by Korea, we will secure a world-class weapons system, which will also help our export.”

When attending the test-firing of the SLBM on Sept. 15, President Moon said, “Expanding our missile capability is the surest deterrence against the North’s provocations.” However, Moon has yet to make any comments on Pyongyang’s successive provocations since Sept. 25, when Kim Yo Jong, the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the North Korean Workers' Party, mentioned the possibility of an inter-Korean summit.


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