The United States allows South Korea to extend its missile range up to 550 km; South Korea, Japan and the US reiterates the necessity to strengthen their defence cooperation
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    • (JUNE 4-10)

    During a recent bilateral talk between the US and South Korea, the US reportedly has allowed the South to extend its missile range up to 550 kilometers. South Korean missile currently has a maximum range of 300 kilometer. Extension of the missile range could now help South Korea to strike any target in North Korea with its missile launchers. According to the reports, South Korea initially demanded its missile range to be extended to 1000 kilometer. But the US response to that demand was lukewarm as it argued that such an extension might cause negative reaction from both China and Russia. So, both Seoul and Washington eventually agreed to extend it to 550 kilometers. 1

    In another development, during their recent meeting on the sidelines of the annual Asian Security Summit held in Singapore recently, South Korean Defece Minister Kim Kwan Jin, Japanese Senior Vice Defence Minister Shu Watanabe, and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta reiterated the importance of their defence cooperation against possible provocations from North Korea in the future. They agreed to hold such talks regularly among the defence chiefs of the three countries on the sidelines of the Asian Security Summit. They also agreed that North Korea’s provocative actions would only isolate the country further posing serious threat international peace and security. 2

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