South Korea Says It Is Developing More Powerful Missiles To Deter North Korea

South Korea's defence blueprint calls for spending 315.2 trillion won (US$273 billion), a 5.8 percent year-on-year increase on average, over the next five years.

South Korea is in the final stages of developing a ballistic missile that can carry a warhead of up to 3 tons, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday, as the country unveiled budget proposals aimed at bolstering its defences against North Korea. In its defence blueprint for 2022-2026, the defence ministry said it would develop new missiles "with significantly enhanced destructive power," upgrade missile defence systems and deploy new interceptors against long-range artillery. "We will develop stronger, longer-range and more precise missiles so as to exercise deterrence and achieve security and peace on the Korean Peninsula," the ministry said in a statement. Among those missiles is a new weapon with a flight range of 350-400 kilometres and a payload of up to 3 tons, designed to destroy underground facilities such as those North Korea is believed to use to store nuclear weapons, Yonhap reported, citing unnamed sources.