The int`l politics of missile range extension

A missile is a flying object armed with a warhead and designed to strike a target. Those equipped with nuclear warheads or biological and chemical weapons are powerful weapons of mass destruction. No international rules regulate the proliferation of missiles. Ballistic missiles developed by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union rapidly spread across the world in the Cold War era. Iran and Iraq launched Scuds missiles at enemy nations without reservation. The first resolution to the problem as presented by the Group of Seven countries led by the U.S. was the Missile Technology Control Regime of 1987.

The treaty bans the transfer of fully assembled missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers or those loaded with a warhead weighing more than 500 kilograms and their modules, as well as related parts and technology. The rules, however, are designed to be voluntarily implemented and not binding. Non-member countries of the pact are not obliged to prevent proliferation. South Korea joined the agreement in March 2001 and is subject to the regulations, but North Korea is not. The Korean government agreed to limit its missile range limit of 180 kilometers in separate negotiations with the U.S. in 1979. The range was expanded to 300 kilometers in the first round of negotiations to amend the agreement in 2001. The weight of a warhead has not changed over the past 33 years, however. A missile capable of loading a warhead weighing less than 500 kilometers cannot be loaded with a nuclear warhead.

A second round of negotiations to amend the agreement, which started last year, will likely be concluded next month. Washington has no reason to fear missiles possessed by Seoul, a key ally. Pyongyang has deployed at military bases the Musudan-ho, a ballistic missile with a maximum range of 3,000 kilometers, and test-fired the Taepodong 2 missile, which has a range of 6,700 kilometers and can carry a warhead weighing 650 to 1,000 kilograms. To balance the seriously imbalanced missile capacities between both Koreas, the range of South Korean missiles should be increased to at least 800 kilometers. China and Japan both object to extending South Korea`s missile range, however, saying it will lead to placing certain parts of their territories within the range of South Korean missiles.

An unconfirmed news report said Japan conveyed its objection to the expansion of South Korea’s missile capacities to the U.S. If the report is confirmed, Tokyo is effectively moving to hinder Seoul’s minimal bid to boost national security on its own. Japan possesses the technology to make an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit the entire Korean Peninsula, and is capable of developing nuclear weapons if it wishes. Tokyo’s sensitive response to the test-firing of long-range missiles by Pyongyang is understandable, but interfering with the planned extension of Seoul’s missile range to a minimum extent is no different than a diplomatic provocation.

Editorial Writer Ha Tae-won (triplets@donga.com)