N. Korea completes deployment of medium-range missiles: defense paper

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has deployed medium-range missiles since
last year as part of its arsenal, South Korea said Monday in its latest
assessment of the communist neighbor.

The 2008 defense white paper said the North Korean intermediate-range ballistic
missiles can travel up to 3,000 kilometers -- enough to reach the northern tip of
Australia -- while carrying warheads of up to 650 kilograms.
The publication did not specify the number of medium-range missiles North Korea
has "deployed for operational use" since 2007, but added Pyongyang began to
develop them in the late 1990's.
The two Koreas are technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
truce rather than a peace treaty. U.S. and South Korean officials recently said
North Korea is preparing to test-fire its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2.

The model has an estimated range of over 6,700 kilometers, putting Alaska and
Hawaii within striking distance, but the technology related to it remains "under
development," the paper said.
North Korea has expanded the warhead capacity of its short-range missiles by 170
to 200 kilograms across the board over the past few years, the paper said, while
the number of North Korean troops increased to 1.19 million, an increase of
20,000 from 2006. The number of its army divisions increased to 86, an increase
of 11.
South Korea has 665,000 troops, backed by 28,500 U.S. troops stationed here.
The North's multiple rocket launchers, which weapons experts believe have a range
of hundreds of kilometers and can quickly dodge counter artillery, have increased
to about 5,100, an increment of 300 compared to two years ago, the report said.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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