'Precision-strike capability surpassing North Korea developed 20 years ago'
'Cruise missiles can evade detection due to Earth's curvature'
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that publicly confirming whether the military had detected each North Korean projectile launch would be inappropriate, as doing so would expose the South Korean military's surveillance capabilities to the North.
Joint Chiefs spokesperson Jang Do-young made the remarks at a briefing Tuesday in response to questions about why the military had not disclosed North Korea's strategic cruise missile warhead dispersion and vertical-strike flight characteristic tests conducted Monday. "Our military is closely monitoring related developments in North Korea and is currently conducting a precise analysis with the United States," Jang said. "Our military maintains the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation by North Korea."
Jang went on to say that South Korea had already developed and fielded precision-strike capabilities and related weapons systems surpassing North Korea's cluster munition-type systems by some 20 years. "Not publicly disclosing the detailed specifications of the response capabilities and assets our military possesses is a strategic and military judgment aimed at not showing our hand to North Korea," Jang added.
However, Jang noted that cruise missiles, unlike ballistic missiles, travel at slower speeds and fly at low altitudes by following terrain contours using Earth's curvature. "Therefore, when North Korea launches from a distant area in the north, there are cases where detection is limited due to Earth's curvature and other factors," Jang said.
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