South Korea:Two missiles were test-fired but one of them reportedly failed.
South Korea conducts first test launch of Hyunmoo-4 ballistic missile
The South Korean military
conducted in mid-March the first test-firing of its new Hyunmoo-4 (also spelled Hyeonmu-4) ballistic missile,
some two-and-a-half years after Washington and Seoul had agreed to scrap the warhead weight limit for South Korean missiles stipulated in US-South Korean guidelines.
A South Korean military official told Jane’s on 10 May
that the first test launch of the 800-km-range weapon, which features a greater payload than previous Hyunmoo-series missile systems,
was conducted at the Agency for Defense Development’s (ADD’s) Anheung test site in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province.
Two missiles were test-fired but one of them reportedly failed.
No information was provided about the cause of the failure.
The original US-South Korean ballistic missile guidelines of 1979 stopped the development of South Korean ballistic missiles.
A revision made in 1997
allowed South Korea to develop a ballistic missile carrying a 500 kg warhead with a maximum strike range of 300 km.
This missile, initially known as the Hyunmoo-2 (also spelled Hyeonmu-2), is now known as the Hyunmoo-2A.
A further revision of the guidelines in 2012
permitted Seoul to extend the range and/or payload of its ballistic missiles.
For instance,
it allowed for South Korean ballistic missiles to havea maximum range
- of 800 km while carrying a 500 kg warhead;
- of 500 km while carrying a 1,000 kg warhead;
- of 300 km while carrying a 2,000 kg warhead.
This changed, however,
after US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in,
announced on 7 November 2017 that they had finalised a deal to scrap the warhead weight limit for South Korean missiles.
As a result,the Republic of Korea (RoK) military
has since been looking to increase fourfold the payload of some its missiles, either by modifying them or developing new ones, said officials.
Jane’s 360