S. Korea, U.S. agree to extend Seoul's ballistic missiles range

PanARMENIAN.Net - South Korea and the United States have reached an agreement on extending the range of Seoul's ballistic missiles to counter the threat from North Korea, Reuters reported citing local media outlets.

Under an agreement signed in 1979 and then revised in 2001 between the two military allies, the range of South Korean missiles is limited to 300 kilometers (186 miles) and a payload of 500 kilograms (1,102 lbs).

But Seoul has long urged Washington to amend the pact enabling the South to produce missiles that could reach anywhere in North Korea to deter the communist state's cross-border provocations.

A government source told the influential Chosun Ilbo daily on Friday, Oct 5, that the two countries had wrapped up negotiations on extending the range of the ballistic missiles to 800 kilometers to cover all of North Korea.

The unnamed government source was quoted as saying the two sides have also agreed to maintain the payload limit at the current level of 500 kilograms.

However if South Korea decides to accept a missile range limit of 550 kilometers, not 800 kilometers, it could increase the payload to one tons, the newspaper said.

Yonhap news agency also reported that an agreement had been reached between the two sides. Currently, every corner of South Korea as well as U.S. military installations in Japan and Guam, are within the range of North Korean missile attacks, according to South Korean government data.

The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice pact, not a peace treaty.