Lee Jae-myung "Welcome the Lifting of ROK-US Missile Guidelines... Opportunity to Strengthen Autonomous Security Capabilities"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed optimism that the lifting of the 'South Korea-U.S. missile guidelines' at the South Korea-U.S. summit has opened the way for strengthening autonomous security capabilities.

On the 22nd, Governor Lee wrote on Facebook, "As a result of the South Korea-U.S. summit, the last shackles on South Korea's missile technology have been removed," explaining, "Since the signing of the 'South Korea-U.S. Missile Memorandum of Understanding' in 1979 during the Park Chung-hee administration, our country has faced restrictions on independent missile technology development, and despite four revisions of the guidelines, the range has still been limited to 800 km."

He continued, "With all restrictions related to missile technology lifted, our country can now freely engage in research and development as a sovereign nation," and evaluated, "This measure will be a great help not only in the defense sector but also in scientific technology and industrial development."

In particular, he said, "Missile technology is a core technology for satellite launch vehicles and space development, so South Korea can now compete on equal footing with other scientific technology powerhouses in the aerospace sector, a future strategic industry," adding, "This is truly welcome news like rain to our scientific and technological personnel who, despite having excellent technologies such as Hyunmoo-4 and K-SLBM (Korean Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile), have only watched the development of medium- and long-range missile technologies by neighboring countries around the Korean Peninsula."

Governor Lee further stated, "We are a nation that created the world's first rockets, 'Juhwa' and 'Singijeon,'" and expressed hope that "the lifting of the missile guidelines between South Korea and the U.S. will be an opportunity to showcase South Korea's space science technology to the world and strengthen autonomous security capabilities."

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