China News Service, Seoul, July 28 (Reporter Zeng Nai) According to news from South Korea’s Presidential Palace Blue House on the 28th, South Korea and the United States amended the "Missile Agreement" to allow South Korean carrier rockets to use solid fuel. South Korea said that this will enhance the military's reconnaissance capabilities on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea and the United States signed the "Missile Agreement" in 1979 to restrict South Korea's development of ballistic missiles. The two sides have revised the agreement many times, gradually expanding the range of South Korean ballistic missiles and warhead weight.
On the 28th, Kim Hyun-jong, the second chief of the Blue House National Security Office of the Presidential Palace of South Korea, held a press conference and said that South Korea and the United States have again revised the "Missile Agreement" to allow South Korean carrier rockets to use solid fuel. He said that this means that in the future, companies, research institutions or individuals can freely use various types of fuel to develop and research different types of spacecraft.
What is the significance of lifting the solid fuel restriction? Kim Hyun-jong pointed out that there are three positive effects:
First, allowing South Korea to independently develop solid fuel carrier rockets will greatly enhance the military's reconnaissance capabilities on the Korean Peninsula.
According to Kim Hyun-jong, according to the South Korean plan, based on solid fuel carrier rockets, a number of low-orbit military reconnaissance satellites will be launched in the future, which is expected to achieve 24-hour surveillance of the Korean Peninsula. He said it would be "a pair of unblinking eyes."
Second, it is a new opportunity for private companies to enter the aerospace industry. Kim Hyun-jong said that government departments and private companies will work together to develop various types of fuel, which will help young talents enter the aerospace field, create market opportunities for related fields, and promote the establishment of a space industry ecosystem.
Third, it will help usher in a new phase of South Korea-US cooperation. Kim Hyun-jong said that it will push the Korea-U.S. alliance "to a higher level."
In the field of international aviation research and development, it is common to use liquid and solid fuel carrier rockets at the same time. In theory, the solid fuel carrier rocket developed for launching spacecraft can be quickly converted into an intercontinental ballistic missile.
After the Korean War, the US military has long controlled the combat command of the South Korean army, and the development of South Korea's military has also been restricted by the US. In 1994, South Korea regained its military command during peacetime. In recent years, South Korea and the United States have been negotiating the transfer of wartime combat command power, and the South Korean side has repeatedly proposed to amend the South Korea-US "Missile Agreement." (Finish)