The Republic of Korea is planning to conduct its first independent missile defense drill, Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday, citing government officials.

"The military authorities are pushing to independently carry out the first missile defense exercise of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of next year," a government official said.

The official said the exercise will be staged to verify the effectiveness of the ROK's missile defense capability and identify any flaws.

The system was developed by the country's military to detect and intercept missiles, including any fired from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, at an altitude of less than 40 kilometers.

The system involves early warning radar with a range of 500 to 700 km, and PAC-3 interceptor and M-SAM surface-to-air missiles.

The military aims to develop long-range surface-to-air missiles, called L-SAM, by 2020 to intercept missiles at an altitude of 50 km.

The drill will be based on a simulation model developed jointly with the United States.

Xinhua

(China Daily 12/30/2014 page11)