South Korea Regains Missile Sovereignty... 'Monster Missile' Emerges [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] With the termination of the Korea-US missile guidelines, it is expected to lay the foundation for securing technological capabilities related to space military power, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), and space rockets for military satellite launches. The end of the missile guidelines means that the maximum range and ballistic warhead weight restrictions have been lifted, allowing South Korea to secure missile sovereignty.

President Moon Jae-in announced at a joint press conference immediately after his first summit with US President Joe Biden at the White House on the 21st (local time), "I am pleased to announce the termination of the (Korea-US) missile guidelines."

The Korea-US missile guidelines were established in October 1979 during the late Park Chung-hee administration. At that time, the government agreed to limit the maximum missile range to 180 km in exchange for receiving missile technology transfer from the United States. This was a strategic decision by the US due to concerns about an arms race in the Northeast Asia region.

However, as the North Korean nuclear and missile threats increased, the restrictions under the missile guidelines were gradually eased.

During the Kim Dae-jung administration in January 2001, the guidelines were first revised to allow South Korea to develop and possess missiles with a maximum range of 300 km and a warhead weight of 500 kg. Subsequently, in October 2012 under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the maximum range of ballistic missiles was increased to 800 km in the second revision.

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, two more revisions were made. In November 2017, the third revision allowed ballistic missiles to have a range of 800 km but completely removed the warhead weight limit. In July of last year, the fourth revision lifted restrictions on the use of solid fuel for space launch vehicles. With the termination of the missile guidelines through this summit, South Korea's missile sovereignty is fully restored.

With the missile guidelines lifted, it has become possible to develop ballistic missiles such as SLBMs without range restrictions. The military and government are reportedly considering the development of nuclear submarines equipped with SLBMs, creating conditions to actively pursue this.

It is reported that the South Korean military has completed the development of a 'ballistic missile triple set' with significantly increased range and warhead weight. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has named the ground-launched surface-to-surface ballistic missile 'Hyunmoo 4-1', the ship-launched surface-to-surface ballistic missile 'Hyunmoo 4-2', and the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) 'Hyunmoo 4-4' according to the launch platform.

Hyunmoo 4-1 has a warhead weight of 2 tons (t), providing at least three times the penetration power compared to the existing strongest GBU-57. It can penetrate over 24 meters of reinforced concrete and 180 meters of regular ground, effectively reaching tactical nuclear-level power. The Hyunmoo 4-2 missile is planned to be mounted on 30,000-ton class light aircraft carriers, and the Hyunmoo 4-4 missile on the 3,000-ton class submarine Dosan Ahn Changho.

Until now, the Navy has equipped ships such as the Korean destroyer (DDH II, 4,400-ton class) with cruise missiles like 'Haeseong 2' or 'Cheonryong', and the 214-class submarines with the cruise missile 'Haeseong 3'. With the development of Hyunmoo 4-2 and 4-4 nearing completion, the Navy has changed the launch platform of the Dosan Ahn Changho submarine from a horizontal launcher to a vertical launcher to accommodate SLBM deployment.

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