US Skeptical Over Seoul’s Missile Program

South Korea is looking to discuss with the United States a revision of the guidelines restricting its missile technology, a spokesman at the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. The Seoul government, however, has not officially raised the topic with the U.S. administration, which previously wanted to limit the range of South Korean missiles to 300 kilometers under a 2001 agreement, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. The comments came after U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp said he didn't think any revision of the missile range pact should be made at the moment. In a video-linked news conference from New York, Tuesday, Sharp was quoted as saying, ``There's been no request to do that and I really don't see a need for that right now.''The general was answering a question over whether the issue would be discussed at the upcoming Security Consultative Meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in October. Some local media speculated that the top U.S. commander abruptly changed his position on the issue, mindful of a backlash from Washington and other regional powers. Sharp's comment was in stark contrast to recent remarks by Marine Forces Korea Commander Maj. Gen. Frank Panter. In a closed door meeting with chief secretaries to lawmakers belonging to the National Assembly's defense committee, Panter said if South Korea proposes to revise guidelines on missile capabilities, it could be a topic of the meeting, according to the secretaries. ``Sharp's comment is construed as meaning that he didn't need to discuss the issue because there had been no formal request by South Korea on that topic,'' the spokesman said. ``We don't translate Sharp's remarks as an opposition to a possible discussion of the revision of missile guidelines.''South Korea restricted its missile range to 180 kilometers in a 1979 agreement with the United States, which in return offered technology to support Seoul's missile systems. Wary of advances in North Korean missile capabilities, Seoul notified Washington in 1995 that it wished to adjust the restrictions. After five years of consultations, the two sides agreed on new guidelines which permit the range of Seoul's missiles up to 300 kilometers. At the same time, the U.S. declared it would support South Korea's membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).The MTCR is an informal and voluntary regime of more than 30 countries that seeks to limit missile proliferation by restricting exports of missiles with a range of 300 kilometers or more, and capable of delivering a 500-kilogram payload.Earlier this month, Pyongyang test-fired several short- and medium-range missiles off the eastern coast, in a show of defiance against the international community, which is calling for the scrapping of the communist regime's nuclear and missile programs. North Korea is believed to have deployed more than 600 Scuds with a range of 320-500 kilometers and 200 Rodongs with a range of 1,300 kilometers near the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.The reclusive state is also believed to be pushing ahead with the development of a 6,700-kilometer-range intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting parts of the United States.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Posted in: Missile,South Korea