Missile command center set to open tomorrow

South Korea’s military will open a missile command center tomorrow at an undisclosed location in the central part of the country, the Army said yesterday in a statement.
The center will be headed by a brigadier general and will serve as the nerve center for South Korea’s various missile units, the Army said. Those include tactical missiles, new cruise missiles and drones armed with bombs.
Besides missiles, the command center will oversee operations related to North Korea’s missile bases.
The center is designed to increase the efficiency of the country’s command of its various missile units.
The battalion-sized unit of army tactical missile systems has a range of 270 kilometers (167 miles).
The cruise missiles, meanwhile, have a range of 500 kilometers, which is expected to double in the next five years.
Seoul plans to develop the drones armed with bombs in the future.
The military expects the new missile command will be able to neutralize the North’s long-range artillery, which could fire on Seoul during the initial stages of a war.
The Defense Ministry estimates the North has over 13,000 artillery pieces.

by Kim Min-seok