CHANNELS
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
South Korea to buy new US medium-range missiles
SEOUL (AFP) Nov 05, 2003
South Korea will buy new US surface-to-surface missiles capable of hitting most strategic targets in North Korea, military officials said Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry said it would buy an undisclosed number of ATACMS Block 1A Missiles with a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles), made by Lockheed Martin.

The ministry gave no further details but Yonhap news agency said South Korea would purchase 110 ATACMS Block 1A missiles for depolyment next year near the border with North Korea.

The new missiles can hit most key strategic targets in North Korea such as its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Pyongyang, Yonhap said.

The ATACMS Block 1A will be the longest-range missile to be deployed here under a new military accord in 2001 under which South Korea was allowed to possess missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers.

US military experts agree North Korea's missile development poses a major threat to regional security on top of its nuclear ambitions.

But the United States has restricted South Korea's missile development to avoid an arms race on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has already deployed short range Scuds and Rodongs with a range of 1,300 kilometers, while actively developing longer-range Taepodong missiles with a range of up to 6,000 kilometers, according to South Korean analysts.

The United States, under a 50-year-old mutual defense treaty, stations 37,000 troops in South Korea, and has performed key military functions since the end of of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Those roles will gradually be reassigned to South Korean forces under a realignment plan that will see US troops pulled back from the frontier with North Korea over the next several years.

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

Nov 02, 2006
  • Discovery Rolls Toward Launch
  • A Mission To Mars Part Two
  • Chinese Lunar Orbiter Prototype On Display At Air Show
  • Shuttle Astronauts to Install Ball Aerospace Instruments Aboard Hubble Space Telescope
  • Mikulski Applauds Hubble Announcement, Says Decision Is Right For America
  • To The Dawn Of Space
  • Lost In Space No More
  • Oxygen Regeneration Restored At ISS
  • ISRO Moots Manned Mission To Space
  • Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Tested
  • LAUNCH Becomes First Magazine For Hobby Rocketry And Commercial Space Travel Enthusiasts
  • NASA Gives Hubble Telescope A New Lease On Life
  • Shape Of Things To Come-On The Moon
  • Iran To Step-Up Sensitive Nuclear Activities
  • North Korea To Rejoin Talks On Nuclear Program
  • China The Anti-Superpower Or The Second Hyperpower
  • Bush Says China Saving Too Much Money
  • Explosion Blows Out Window At Paypal In Silicon Valley
  • Arctic Snap Wreaks Havoc Across Nordic Region
  • Global Map Shows New Patterns Of Extinction Risk
  • Microbes Compete With Animals For Food By Making It Stink
  • More Species In The Tropics Because Life Has Been There Longer
  • Scientists Setting Dollar Value For Ecosystem
  • Czech Temelin Nuclear Reactor Hit By Fuel Problem
  • Most Lakes Across China Polluted Or Emptied Out By Humans
  • UK To Push India And EU Over Climate Change Response
  • White House Dismisses Chart Of Iraq Sliding Toward Chaos
  • Iraq Not Lost Yet
  • Red Cross Unveils Mass Southern Africa AIDS Project
  • China's Dirty Secret
  • SPACE.WIRE
    Bringing Space Home, When Your Mission Depends On It
    FREE SPACEDAILY NEWSLETTER
    SubscribeUnsubscribe
      






    The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2004 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement