S. Korean purchase of U.S. precision missiles put off: lawmaker

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will have to wait until at least mid-2010
before starting to acquire U.S.-developed long-range precision missiles it had
hoped to install on its F-15K fighter, a lawmaker said Thursday.
South Korea wanted to buy 177 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) from
the U.S. starting as early as last year, according to Rep. Kim Jang-soo.
But the U.S. recently found glitches in the missiles, making it difficult to
export them by mid-2010, Kim, a former defense minister, said in a statement.
"JASSM is not currently exportable," Bruce Lemkin, a U.S. Air Force official,
said in a letter to the Seoul-based Defense Acquisition Program Administration,
according to Kim.
"However, there are other systems approved for the F-15K that may provide the
capability you desire and we are prepared to provide additional information at
your request," Lemkin was quoted as saying.
JASSMs are satellite-guided cruise missiles that weapons experts say can fly up
to 370km and hit various targets, including hard and medium-hardened bases.
South Korea hoped to complete the purchase of JASSMs by 2012 in an effort to
reinforce its strike capabilities against North Korea, said Kim, a ruling Grand
National Party lawmaker.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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