Chosun Ilbo: DPRK deploys msls near ROK border.

4/8 Tass 39

SEOUL, August 4 (Itar-Tass) - The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) has deployed long-range anti-aircraft missiles near the
border with the Republic of Korea (ROK), the newspaper Chosum Ilbo
reported on Wednesday referring to military sources. The emergence of
those missiles with a range of up to 250 km coincided with the sinking of
the South Korean corvette Cheonan on March 26, the paper said. Seoul
blames the sinking on the DPRK.
SA-5 missiles were redeployed to the Demilitarized Zone from Hwanghae
Province. That move, in the opinion of military sources, brings about a
serious threat to South Korean fighter planes that patrol the border
areas. The missiles are capable of shooting down aircraft even in South
Korea's hinterland, not to mention the Greater Seoul area.
The use of SA-5 can prevent ROK Air Force, in the event of an
emergency, from delivering accurate strikes at strategic targets on the
territory of the North, the paper quotes one of the sources. In the event
of the activation of the radars of those missiles, South Korean air pilots
would have to fly at altitudes below 3,000 metres to avoid detection.
At the end of the1980s, the DPRK purchased 350 SA-5 and 20 missile
launchers from the then Soviet Union. These systems that are designed to
destroy American strategic bombers were deployed around Pyongyang and
Wonsan and in some areas of Hwanghae Province. They shot down targets at 4
Mach speed but were not notable for high accuracy, Chosun Ilbo wrote.
The North Korean army also has available medium- and short-range
anti-aircraft missiles of SA-2 and SA-3 types with a range of 45 and 35 km
respectively, as well as SA-7 and SA-16 anti-aircraft missile systems, the
paper pointed out.
-0-pop


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