South Korea displayed for the first time its new Hyunmu-3 cruise missile at military parade 0110136

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Defence & Security News - South Korea
 
 
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 11:29 AM
 
South Korea displayed for the first time its new Hyunmu-3 cruise missile at military parade.
South Korea displayed its new longest-range missile Hyunmu-3 capable of striking all of North Korea and other sophisticated weapons at a massive military ceremony Tuesday, October 1, 2013, a display of force meant to show Pyongyang that any provocation would be met with strong retaliation.
     

South Korean Hyunmu-3 cruise missiles are displayed during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of Armed Forces Day.
     

It was South Korea's biggest Armed Forces Day ceremony in a decade, and the first since North Korea conducted its third atomic test and threatened nuclear war earlier this year.

About 11,000 troops, 190 weapons systems and other equipment and 120 aircraft were featured in the ceremony at a military airport just south of Seoul. Among them were GPS-guided, Hyunmu-3 cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometer that South Korea developed in recent years. It was the first time the domestically built Hyunmu-3 was publicly shown, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

President Park Geun-hye said in a speech at the ceremony that South Korea must maintain its strong alliance with the U.S. and establish missile defense and pre-emptive strike capabilities to let North Korea know "the nuclear weapons and missiles it is obsessed with are useless."

"We must build up a strong deterrence against North Korea until it puts down its nuclear weapons program and make a right choice for its own people and peace on the Korean Peninsula," she said as visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sat nearby.

Hyunmu-3 cruise missile is powered by a turbofan engine, much like other subsonic cruise missiles of its type, and has a payload of up to 500 kilograms. The guidance systems consist of Inertial Guidance System and Global Positioning System. The maximum payload of the missile is rated at 500 kilograms of conventional explosive.

Other new weapons on show for the first time Tuesday included the Hyunmu-2 ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers (185 miles) and Israeli-made Spike missiles aimed at neutralizing North Korean coastal artillery.