[Aju News DB]
South Korea seeks to buy an advanced US satellite navigation device to be mounted on new guided weapons capable of cutting through jamming to destroy North Korea's multiple rocket launch systems, officials said Thursday.
The United States has been cautious in selling sensitive Global Positional System (GPS) equipment, but South Korea hopes to buy them under growing threats from the speedy development of North Korean weapons.
"Negotiations are under way with the US government," Kim Si-chul, spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) controlled by South Korea's defense ministry, told reporters.
Seoul hopes to mount the US device on new guided weapons, he said. South Korea has tested guided missiles with a range of 120 kilometers (72 miles) that can carry powerful warheads.
Defense Ministry Han Min-koo said this week that North Korea has completed the development of a new multiple launch rocket launch system with a range of up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).
The new system has been developed as a cheaper alternative to North Korea's Scud ballistic missiles, Han said, adding that the North's 300-mm multiple rocket launchers could be deployed at the end of this year.
Last month Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said North Korea's new multiple rocket launch system is ready for deployment to mount a precision attack on key targets across the border.
South Korea has accused North Korea of waging a systematic electric warfare by discharging strong electric waves to disrupt satellite traffic navigation signals.
Since the cross-border electric wave attack was stepped up last Thursday, no visible damage has been reported, but Seoul condemned it as a serious provocation.
Seoul regards GPS disruptions as a new form of North Korea's low level, asymmetric provocation. South Korean officials believe North Korea has multiple GPS disruption tools with an operational range of more than 100 kilometers.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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