On October 24, 2006, South Korea military sources revealed that Seoul’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) recently conducted a successful flight test of a 1,000 kilometer-range land attack cruise missile (LACM) and is developing a 1,500km cruise missile, but the Ministry of National Defense and Presidential Office (Ch’ŏng’wadae) have refused to confirm or deny the reports. [1] This revelation follows the mid-September 2006 announcement that South Korea had completed the development of the 500 kilometer-range Ch’ŏnnyong (“sky dragon”) cruise missile and planned to deploy the missile to a newly established and integrated Missile Command. [2]

South Korea has been very secretive about its cruise missile program because of fears it could upset neighboring countries, as well as the United States. South Korea’s ADD began developing cruise missiles in the early 1990s when the country was still bound by a 1979 bilateral agreement with the United States that limited the range of Seoul’s ballistic missiles to 180 kilometers. [3] South Korea has concealed the details of its cruise missile program over the years, but North Korea’s recent ballistic missile exercise and nuclear test have created a strong incentive to reassure South Korean citizens that Seoul can respond to Pyongyang’s threats. [4]

South Korea successfully tested the Haesŏng (“sea star”), a 150 kilometer-range ship-to-ship cruise missile, in December 2005, and Defense Minister Yun Kwang-ung recently said that South Korea has conducted at least 10 cruise missile flight tests over the last three years. [5] The South Korean Navy intends to deploy cruise missiles on three 1,800-ton-class diesel submarines, scheduled for procurement in 2007, and on its operational KDX-II destroyers, as well as on KDX-III destroyers, which are scheduled to begin deployment in 2008. [6]

South Korean media have not reported when ADD tested the 1,000km-range cruise missile, but the missile apparently was launched 40km down range and circled the target 25 times before striking it. [7] The test site has not been revealed, but in the past South Korea has tested missiles at Anhŭng, on the coast of the T’aean peninsula, which is on the west coast of South Ch’ungch’ŏng Province. The new missile is equipped with inertial guidance along with a terrain contour matching (TERCOM) and digital scene matching area correlation (DSMAC) navigation system, which reportedly give the missile a circular error probable (CEP) of five meters (meaning that it will hit within five meters of its target 50 percent of the time). [8]

The 1,000 kilometer-range missile is called the Hyŏnmu-3 and the 1,500 kilometer version has been named the Hyŏnmu-3A. The air-to-surface version has a range of at least 500 kilometers and has been named Boramae (“falcon”). Initial reports indicated the Hyŏnmu-3 would be deployed within a few years, but some reports claim that South Korea completed development of the Hyŏnmu-3 about “two or three years ago” and has already deployed it or is rushing to deploy it now. One media source also claims that significant progress has been made in the development of the Hyŏnmu-3A. [9]

South Korea’s cruise missile arsenal is expected to play a significant role in the plans the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff (ROKJCS) is now drafting to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat. On October 24, 2006, General Yi Sang-hŭi, chairman of the ROKJCS, issued a directive to the ROKJCS to develop a detailed plan focusing on three areas: deterrence; precision strikes against North Korean nuclear weapons facilities; and minimizing the damage from a North Korean nuclear attack. According to the Joongang Ilbo, Seoul will rely upon Washington’s nuclear umbrella to deter an attack, but if Seoul believes a nuclear attack is imminent, its war plan will include precision strikes with conventional cruise missiles to prevent the attack. [10]

Daniel A. Pinkston – Monterey Institute of International Studies