I don’t think the North Koreans will be too impressed by this news considering they are developing nuclear warheads:
In this file photo provided by the Ministry of Defense on June 23, 2017, Hyunmoo-2, a new homegrown ballistic missile with a range of 800 kilometers, is test-fired from a mobile launch pad at a test site of the Agency for Defense Development in Anheung, 200 kilometers southwest of Seoul, the same day with President Moon Jae-in on hand. (Yonhap)
The South Korean government is pushing to revise the missile guidelines developed with the United States to double the maximum weight of warheads on Seoul’s ballistic missiles from the current 500 kilograms to counter growing threats from the North, sources said Monday.
The Seoul government proposed the revision in line with the Seoul-Washington summit last month, and is known to be planning to begin talks regarding the issue during the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) later this year, they said.
In 2012, the allies revised the ballistic missile guidelines, allowing Seoul to extend the maximum allowable missile range to 800 kilometers from the previous limit of 300 km, against North’s advancing nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Under the deal, Seoul can load up to 500 kg of warheads on missiles with the range of 800 km.
“Our military is reviewing various measures to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations,” a government official said, declining to comment on the possible revision. [Yonhap]
