S. Korean version of ‘Iron Dome’ being developed
The military is developing its own interceptor system to combat North Korea’s long-range artillery similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Monday.
In a report to the National Assembly audit, the JCS said the Agency for Defense Development has been working to develop core technology to “hit to kill” the North’s projectiles.
The development has come amid concerns that South Korea does not have sufficient weapons to deal with artillery attacks targeting Seoul and the nearby metropolitan area.
“We plan to deploy the system as a countermeasure against the North making possible multiple strikes on South Korea’s key state and military facilities,” the JCS said in the report.
The military considered purchasing Israel’s Iron Dome to fend off North Korean threats, but concluded the system was not suitable for use here for various reasons, such as cost effectiveness and the country’s mountainous terrain.
“The Iron Dome is a defense system suitable to defend sporadic rocket strikes from irregular warfare forces such as the Hamas group. It is not designed to handle North Korea’s attacks using long-range artillery,” it said.
The North has diverse types of rocket systems, self-propelled howitzers and rocket launchers that can put Seoul within range, and longer-range 300 millimeter-caliber rockets that can reach Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province where U.S. Forces Korea’s major base is located.
Pyongyang has some 14,100 artillery pieces including 5,500 multiple rocket launchers, according to Seoul’s defense white paper issued in 2016.
The JCS also said it would develop or adopt other weapons for the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) strategy, which is aimed at attacking the North’s command with a massive missile response in the case of an attack by North Korea.
Regarding Pyongyang’s possible use of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the JCS said it is developing evolving countermeasures for each stage of the submarines’ activities — mooring at bases, departing them and launching missiles.
“We are carrying out training to enhance our capabilities against various situations that may happen in North Korea,” JCS Chairman Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo said.
He also said the JCS is devising new OPLANs besides the existing ones — including OPLAN 5015 — because the South needs to review and assess its own capabilities to cope with newly-emerging threats along with North Korea’s advanced nuclear and missile technologies.
OPLAN 5015 calls for a joint pre-emptive strike by South Korea and the U.S. on North Korea’s key military facilities and weapons and for “decapitating” the North’s leadership.
Opposition lawmakers criticized the military in regard to the recent revelation that North Korean hackers accessed hundreds of classified military documents in September last year, including OPLAN 5015.
As Jeong said that the military does not know fully which documents were leaked but that the previous OPLANs are still valid despite the hacking, Rep. Kim Young-woo of the minor opposition Bareun Party said it was pathetic for the military not to grasp how the hacking took place and what OPLANs were leaked. “It is nonsense that the previous OPLANs are still valid despite the leak. An overhaul of all OPLANs is required,” Kim said.