[2020 National Audit] Nam Se-gyu, ADD Director, Evaluates "Missile Gap Between South and North, Including Solid Ballistic Missiles, Reduced by More Than Half from 20 Years"

Attendance at Defense Acquisition Program Administration National Assembly Audit "North Korea's Practical Development Compared to 5 Years Ago"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Nam Se-gyu, director of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), analyzed that the technological gap between South and North Korea in solid ballistic missiles and other areas has been shortened by more than half from 20 years.

On the 20th, Director Nam appeared at the National Assembly National Defense Committee's Defense Acquisition Program Administration audit and responded to a question from Kim Byung-joo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the level of new weapons such as those that appeared in North Korea's military parade.

He said, "South Korea is considerably ahead," but added, "Especially in solid ballistic missiles or missile fields, we thought we were 20 years ahead, but after North Korea's military parade, I thought the gap has been shortened by more than half." He continued, "We have analyzed North Korea's new weapons extensively," and added, "I felt that North Korea has been developing practically over the past five years."

Regarding the status of weapon development at the Agency for Defense Development in response to the speed of North Korea's new weapon development, he said, "North Korea is much faster than we thought," and added, "When we developed the past tactical surface-to-surface missile (KTSSM), we actually started and launched it in about a year. North Korea is now doing what we did back then."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.