N. Korea`s nuke-tipped missile can be major threat to Seoul: scholar

A specialist on North Korea has argued that North Korea`s intermediate missile carrying a nuclear warhead will likely be a major threat on the Korean Peninsula.

Choi Bong-wan, professor of the graduate school of national defense at Hannam University, made the argument at a seminar hosted Wednesday by Representative Yoo Seung-min of the ruling Saenuri Party, who chairs the parliamentary national defense committee.

"If North Korea succeeds in making small and light nuclear weapons, it will likely attempt to mount a nuclear warhead weighing up to 1 ton on the intermediate Rodong or Musudan missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers," he claimed. "Then, it will be possible (for the North) to be capable of launching nuclear attacks on any area across the Korean Peninsula by adjusting its firing angle or through various other ways of adjusting the range."

He also claimed that such a ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead is the "worst-case scenario" maximizing the North`s military threats to the South, urging Seoul to adopt a multi-layered missile defense system. Currently, South Korea operates a missile defense system aimed at shooting down low-flying missiles.

The South`s Ministry of National Defense plans to establish by the early 2020s the Korea Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD) by introducing upgraded PAC-2 missiles and PAC-3 missiles aimed at intercepting incoming missiles at an altitude of 10 to 15 kilometers from ground in the last stage of a missile trajectory.

Yoo also urged the ministry to take the defense policy back to the drawing board.