South Korean military to deploy bunker-buster missiles this year

The South Korean military will deploy domestically developed bunker-buster missiles capable of striking subterranean enemy targets this year, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

A Korean Tactical Surface-to-Surface Missile strikes a target during a test at an undisclosed location in this undated filed photo. [AGENCY FOR DEFENSE DEVELOPMENT]

The South Korean military will deploy domestically developed bunker-buster missiles capable of striking subterranean enemy targets this year, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

According to the ministry’s 2024 policy report, the short-range Korean Tactical Surface to Surface Missile-I (KTSSM-I) can penetrate several meters underground and has a range of 180 kilometers (110 miles).

Development of the KTSSM-I took place between 2014 and 2017, and the system was successfully tested in 2019 before entering mass production the following year.

The project was conceived after the North shelled South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. The attack, which killed two civilians and two Marines, highlighted the need for the South to secure strike capabilities against North Korean artillery systems shielded inside caves along the mountainous inter-Korean border region.

In March 2018, the South Korean Army said it would form a new brigade armed with bunker-buster missiles to target reinforced North Korean long-range artillery sites near the demilitarized zone.

In September last year, the state arms procurement agency announced it had additionally greenlit the development of an improved version of the KTSSM-I, known as KTSSM-II, which is expected to cost 290 billion won ($216 million).

While the KTSSM-I can be fired from fixed launcher platforms, the KTSSM-II will be launched from mobile transporter erector launcher vehicles and will have a longer range of 290 kilometers.

The ministry also said that the development of a multilayered long-range surface-to-air missile system (L-SAM) is due to wrap up within the year.

The system, which is being developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), passed its third interception test in June last year, making Korea the third country in the world after the United States and Israel to successfully develop a missile defense system that is effective at higher altitudes.

With an interception altitude range between 50 and 60 kilometers (31 and 37 miles), the L-SAM is intended to compensate for the current limitations of the country’s multi-layer anti-missile plan, known as Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD).

Although South Korean missile defense already includes several missile interception systems, including U.S.-developed Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors and Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air (M-SAM) systems, these are only effective at altitudes of 40 kilometers or lower.

Further, while United States Forces Korea operates a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in Seongju, the battery’s coverage does not extend over Seoul.

Thaad can shoot down incoming missiles in their descent phase at altitudes between 40 and 150 kilometers.

KAMD is one of three components in South Korea’s so-called "K-3 strategy" designed to deter North Korea’s escalating missile and nuclear weapons threats.

The others are Kill Chain, which relies on surface-to-surface missiles and earth-penetrating weapons to destroy North Korean missile-launching capabilities before missiles can be fired, and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation system, which would target individuals in North Korea's leadership and military command.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]