South Korea to develop 'Frankenmissile' to counter North

Seoul [South Korea]: South Korea's military establishment has informed the defence committee of the country's National Assembly, that it plans to develop a "missile">Frankenmissile" to counter North Korea's escalating missile and nuclear capabilities.

According to a report in the Singapore-based Strait Times, the military has submitted a report in response to an annual parliamentary audit conducted by the National Assembly's Defence Committee.

The South Korean Army has said that it plans to develop a "Hyunmoo IV" surface-to-surface missile, powerful enough to destroy North Korea's underground military facilities and command center.

Combined with indigenous tactical surface-to-surface missiles and Hyunmoo-class intermediate-range ballistic missiles, the advanced pre-emptive strike capability would inflict "unbearable cost" to the North by neutralising its nuclear and missile sites, as well as long-range artillery units, the army has said.

South Korea has reportedly been working on advancing ballistic missiles capability since it struck a deal with the United States to scrap limits on the missiles' payload in September.

Previously, Seoul was banned from fitting warheads weighing over 500 kilograms on its ballistic missiles with a range of over 800 kilometers.

The development of such an advanced ballistic missile is a part of the army's effort to minimize civilian casualties and end the war, if it takes place, as soon as possible.

The military has reportedly initiated a five-pronged weapons development strategy to develop high-precision powerful missile, establish agile manoeuvre corps, build units using drones and robots, develop advanced battle system and create a special warfare brigade for "deception strikes" against North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un.

The announcement of the new missile plan comes amid North Korea's increasing threat against South Korea's border areas.