South Korea conducts test launch of new ballistic missile

South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development has reportedly conducted a new test of the latest ballistic missile, known as the Hyunmoo-4.

Some sources reported that the Agency for Defense Development conducted test-firing of Hyunmoo-series missile systems with 800km range drawing by the recent airspace restriction notice.

The new Hyunmoo-4 ballistic missile is an 800 km-range missile with a 2,000 kg payload that would be used for destroying hard and deeply buried targets, such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea command center near Chunghwa.

The development of Hyunmoo-4 began in 2017 when the Trump Administration eliminated the payload restriction entirely.

The removal of the payload restriction cleared the way for South Korea to test the Hyunmoo-4. Press reports now indicate that South Korea tested this missile for the first time on March 24 — although word of the test did not become public until The Asia Business Daily published a story on May 6. The Asia Business Daily quoted “government officials” as saying that senior officials from the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) had overseen a test from the ADD Anheung Test Center in mid-March.

A South Korean military official also confirmed to Janes on 10 May that the first test launch of the 800-km-range weapon, which features a greater payload than previous Hyunmoo-series missile systems, was conducted at the Agency for Defense Development’s (ADD’s) Anheung test site in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province. Two missiles were test-fired but one of them reportedly failed. No information was provided about the cause of the failure.