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South Korea plans deployment of long-range missile

A South Korean newspaper reports the country's military is continuing development of a long-range missile for deployment by 2017.

By Richard Tomkins
A lone South Korean flag hung by students hoping for a peaceful reunion between North and South Korea hangs in barbed wire near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Freedom Bridge, close to Seoul on January 29, 2013. The Freedom Bridge Bridge, one of the few ways in or out of North Korea, allowed South Korean and American POWs to cross from North Korea to freedom. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI
A lone South Korean flag hung by students hoping for a peaceful reunion between North and South Korea hangs in barbed wire near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Freedom Bridge, close to Seoul on January 29, 2013. The Freedom Bridge Bridge, one of the few ways in or out of North Korea, allowed South Korean and American POWs to cross from North Korea to freedom. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

SEOUL, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Development and deployment of a ballistic missile with a 500-mile range -- enough to hit any North Korean military target -- is planned by South Korea.

The Korea Herald newspaper, quoting military sources, said deployment in anticipated by 2017.

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"Currently, we have developed ballistic missiles with a range of up to 500 km (310 miles), and the plan means extending the range to 800 km (497 miles)," a military source said. "We are aiming to deploy the missile with an 800 km range by 2017."

Under a U.S.-South Korea defense guideline, Seoul was limited to missiles with a maximum range of about 186 miles, which was increased in 2012 given North Korea's increasing missile capabilities.

The North has a relatively large assortment of ballistic missiles that can threaten South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Among them: The Rodong ballistic missile, with a range of about 826 miles; and with a range of as much as 2,485 miles.

North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile, which presumably can hit parts of Alaska, was tested in 2009.

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