New Missile from South Korea Is Being Tested to Deter Threat

The Hycore (cruise) missile test fired

Images reveal a hypersonic cruise missile from South Korea being tested to counter the threat from North Korea and China. In addition to this missile, South Korea is also producing air-launched ballistic missiles and sea-based ballistic missiles with submarine launch.

The Republic of Korea announced development of this missile in response to tests of a hypersonic missile from the North, including a successful launch. This raises concerns for South Korea and other Asian countries.

According to The War Zone, a source for the defense industry and national security community, “Until now, the Hycore (cruise) missile had only been seen in public in the form of scale models and renderings. The new imagery includes the weapon being fired from a ground-based vertical launch platform, as well as the in-flight separation of the missile from the first of its two booster sections.”

It is not just another missile from South Korea. This missile reaches a speed of Mach 5, utilizes a scramjet propulsion with a booster jet and will launch from multiple platforms, such as naval vessels, aircraft and ground-based launchers. It is also able to perform maneuvers during flight.

Moreover, it is expected to be put into service late in this decade by the Agency of Defense Development, Hankyoreh reports.

There are at least five countries that are developing hypersonic missiles, the U.S. with HACM that was developed by Raytheon, China with their DF-ZF (WU-14) already in service, India with their Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) missile, Russia with their Kinzhal and Tsirkon missiles and North Korea with Hwasong 8.

Four years ago, an arms race began in the Korean Peninsula, the Hypersonic Race, when North Korea “resumed plutonium production at its Yongbyon nuclear complex and expanded its uranium-enrichment facility there by 25%,” according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which produces independent, policy-relevant data about geopolitics, geo-economics and conflict, and collects and validates defence data on
over 170 countries.

Defense Security Asia reported that South Korea “will not be vulnerable to an era of hypersonic speed, unpredictable trajectories and strategic shock.”

Two years ago, Former President Yoon Sook-Yul suggested that South Korea would acquire nuclear weapons if threats coming from North Korea escalate.

Political analyst who specializes with North Korean politics, Cheong Seong-chang, expressed the opportunity for South Korea to develop nuclear weapons came from U.S.

President Donald Trump`s reelection.

This is due to South Korea losing faith with the U.S. to protect them if either North Korea or any other country attacks them.

The South positions their advancements in hypersonic technology, including the Hycore missile, as a partner in the trilateral partnership between Australia, United Kingdom and
the United States, also known as AUKUS.

This would fall under Pillar 2 (Advanced Capabilities), which include hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities, undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomy, cyber advancements, innovation and information sharing.

Not only that, South Korea plans to invest $1.37 billion, which is about ₩1.9 billion, by 2030 for rocket technologies and developing satellite surveillance.