hankyoreh

The launch of an 800-km ballistic missile

The Moon Jae-in administration made a request during its late June summit with the US to amend the two sides‘ New Missile Guidelines (NMG) to increase the maximum permissible warhead weight on a 800-km ballistic missile from its current 500kg to one ton, it was learned on July 24.

Seoul proposed the idea to the US at the time, with plans to discuss the details with the US during the two sides’ Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) scheduled for the second half of the year, sources said. The proposal indicates that Seoul is attempting to amend the NMG for the first time in roughly five years.

A Ministry of National Defense source said it would be “inappropriate to confirm the specifics of matters discussed at a summit between the South Korean and US leaders,” but did not deny that the proposal to increase the warhead weight had been made. A high-level government source familiar with the situation said, “I think that if you look at the administrations’ response when North Korea launched its [Hwasong-14] missile last month, you can pretty much see its position in terms of responding resolutely to the issue.”

A ministry official also responded to questions on whether the administration’s aim in increasing the warhead weight is to develop a “bunker buster” capable of destroying an underground bunker where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might attempt to hide in an emergency.

“I can’t confirm whether such plans exist at present, but it is true that we will require such a development plan in the future,” the official said.

But if the accounts are true, the measure could end up being a stumbling block to the Moon administration’s North Korea policy approach of imposing sanctions and pressure to resolve the nuclear issue while attempting to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula through improvements in inter-Korean relations. It could be interpreted as signaling that the administration, which has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention of attacking North Korea and does not desire a regime change or collapse in Pyongyang, is now attempting to develop technologically that basically targets that same regime.

In 2012, the South Korean government concluded negotiations with the US increasing the maximum development range for ballistic missiles from 300km to 800km while keeping the maximum warhead weight at 500kg.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]