South Korea to develop 'Frankenmissile' to counter North

South Korea's military establishment has informed the defence committee of the country's National Assembly, that it plans to develop a "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.