President Moon Mentioning 'Ahn Changho' "Strengthening Self-Defense Capabilities Further" (Comprehensive)

Observing Reader-Developed SLBM Submarine Test Launch... "Continuously Enhancing Missile Power to Overwhelm North Korea"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "In 1921, Dosan Ahn Chang-ho said, ‘The only thing we can trust and hope for is our own strength.’ A hundred years later today, with the successful tests of missile forces including SLBM, we have further solidified our autonomous defense capabilities that no one can shake."

President Moon Jae-in emphasized the will for autonomous defense while observing the SLBM launch test independently developed by Korea at the Agency for Defense Development on the 15th.

Park Kyung-mi, Blue House spokesperson, explained, "Following the successful test launch of the world’s most powerful high-yield ballistic missile Hyunmoo in 2017, President Moon congratulated that Korea has become the seventh country in the world to launch an SLBM from a submarine by successfully firing the SLBM from the ‘Dosan Ahn Chang-ho’ today."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In a call with Captain Kim Hyung-jun of the Ahn Chang-ho submarine, President Moon said, "Despite the adverse weather conditions at the target point today, it is remarkable that the SLBM maintained a normal trajectory and accurately hit the target," and added, "Please be sure to convey my gratitude and commendation to all crew members on behalf of the people."

President Moon mentioned the end of the South Korea-U.S. missile guidelines, saying, "If solid-propellant launch vehicle technology is transferred to the civilian sector, it could open an era of ‘national space development’ beyond ‘defense space development’," and emphasized, "Defense science is the power to protect peace, and it is livelihood and economy."

In his closing remarks, President Moon also shared his views on North Korea’s missile launches. He said, "North Korea launched a cruise missile the day before yesterday, followed by two ballistic missiles into the East Sea today," and explained, "Today’s missile force launch test was not a response to North Korea’s provocations but was conducted on a scheduled date according to our own missile force enhancement plan."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon evaluated, "However, our missile force enhancement itself can serve as a definite deterrent against North Korea’s provocations. Through the success of various missile force launch tests today, we have demonstrated that we have sufficient deterrence to respond to North Korea’s provocations at any time."

President Moon urged, "I ask you to do your best to continuously strengthen a strong defense capability, including the continuous enhancement of various missile forces to overwhelmingly counter North Korea’s asymmetric forces in the future."

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