The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said 13 South Korean firms, including Samsung Electronics Co., and French group Thomson-CSF were engaged in developing the Chonma (Pegasus) missiles.

Caption: The ultimate perishable product sees keen competition on Korean peninsula South Korean airforce troops clean up the wreckage of a NYKE Hercules Surface to Air Missile which was fired by mistake from an air force base near the southern port city of Inchon 04 December. The missile shed debris onto neighbouring houses, injuring three civilians and destroying scores of nearby vehicles. Photo Copyright AFP

"The Chonma missile with a range of ten kilometers (six miles) will begin mass production next month," agency official Hwang Sun-Jun told AFP.

"Thomson has provided key electronic parts. But this is South Korea's first independent development of ground-to-air missiles with our own design."

South Korea hopes to sell Chonma abroad, he said, adding it would be competitive in price.

Defense officials here said Chonma represented French-South Korean defense ties prompted by a milestone joint-venture accord signed last month between Samsung Electronics and Thomson.

The agreement dealt a blow to the US defence industry which has traditionally dominated the South Korean market despite intense competition in recent years from French manufacturers.

The French group has described its joint-venture agreement with Samsung Electronics as the first business of its type in Asia. The joint venture is due to be launched in early 2000.

Samsung and Thomson have agreed to provide a complete range of systems and equipment in electronic imagery, military communications, naval combat and ground-to-air missiles.

South Korea, one of Washington's key military allies in Asia, is still technically at war with North Korea following their 1950-53 conflict.

Pyongyang test-fired a long-range ballistic missile in August last year, prompting Seoul to accelerate its missile development.

"Chonma will be the backbone of our defensive missile system against North Korean fighters," a defense ministry official said.

"The Chonma system is very efficient with its mobile launching vehicle carrying eight missiles as well as radar and fire control equipment."

The Chonma missile is worth 280 million won (237,000 dollars) per head, with its launching system and related equipment costing some 15 billion won, he said.

"Previously we have produced missiles by modifying US systems. But Chonma is the result of our accumulated technology."

He said work on the new missile system has been underway for nearly ten years.

The missile development scheme comes as South Korea pushed the United States to increase the limit on the range of its domestically-produced missiles from 300 kilometers (187.5 miles) to 500 kilometers.

South Korea has long sought technology transfers for missiles to counter North Korea's strident missile program. But Washington has refused to transfer senstitive technology here because of worries of a missile arms race.

Officially Seoul's missile range limit is set at 180 kilometers under a 1970s agreement with Washington aimed at limiting missile proliferation on the Korean peninsula.

In the early 1990s France sold South Korea its short-range Mistral missiles in a landmark move which saw Seoul acquire key military hardware from an arch business rival of its traditional ally the United States.

Copyright 1999 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MILSPACE
China Plans South China Sea Launch Pad
Hong Kong (AFP) October 4, 1999 - China is planning to build a satellite launching centre on Hainan island in the South China Sea, a report here said Monday.An official said the construction of a launching pad could cost up to two billion yuan (24 million dollars), adding the project could invite foreign investment.

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