S. Korea unveils high-power ballistic missile

The South Korean military unveiled for the first time a high-power ballistic missile at an event marking Armed Forces Day on Saturday. Revealing an eight-second video clip showing the firing of the missile in the introduction of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), one of the Korean-style three-pillar systems (incapacitate, punish and retaliate), the military said, “KMPR includes a high-power Hyunmoo missile that boasts the world’s largest warhead.”

Notably, the missile is designed for the cold launch method, which springs up from the transporter erector launcher before igniting, a feature that draws keen attention from watchers. The military stopped short of disclosing the missile’s specifications, including the warhead's weight this time. Still, it could be the missile whose warhead weighs up to eight tons, which is under development by Korea’s Agency for Defense Development. “If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will only face a stern and overwhelming response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance and our military,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said in the commemorative ceremony for the first Armed Forces Day since his inauguration.

On Saturday morning, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward waters in the East Sea from a site in Sunan, Pyongyang. Pyongyang has thus made the fourth ballistic missile provocation in just a week. The missiles flew 350 kilometers. It is a distance that can strike the Gyeryongdae military base in South Chungcheong Province in the South, where President Yoon and others attended the ceremony. It was the first time the North fired a ballistic missile on Armed Forces Day in the South.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com