[정치][팩트와이] Is Korea the 7th SLBM in the world?

[앵커]

On the 15th, the South Korean military announced that it was the 7th achievement in the world after the successful test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile SLBM.

Except for North Korea, which has launched SLBMs since 2015, you claimed that we developed it first. What is the basis?

This is Fact Y, reporter Kang Jeong-gyu.

[기자]

A 3,000-ton submarine breaks through the shimmering sea, and an SLBM soars into the sky.

[부승찬 / 국방부 대변인 (지난 15일) : 우리나라는 세계에서 7번째로 SLBM 잠수함 발사에 성공한 국가가 되었습니다.]

▲ SLBM development / 7th in the world?
It means the seventh that our military has revealed, after the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and India.

We are ahead of North Korea, which has launched SLBMs since 2015.

It is confirmed that North Korea test-fired from an underwater barge, but it is unclear whether it was actually fired from a submarine, the military authorities explained.

However, in August 2016, North Korea made it clear that it had launched an SLBM from a submarine, and released a related video.

[신종우 / 한국국방안보포럼 전문연구위원 : 북한이 SLBM 개발을 진행하면서 발사 시스템을 개선해 나간 흔적을 확인할 수 있는데요. 함교 상단에 발사관이 기울여 있는 모습과 콜드론치 가스 배출구 형상을 볼 때 잠수함에서 발사가 이루어진 것으로 보입니다.]

However, since there is only one SLBM that can be fired, it is difficult to see it as an official weapon system.

New submarines capable of carrying three or more have not yet been deployed.

[문근식 / 전 핵잠수함 개발사업단장 : 수직발사관 6발을 장착한 도산안창호함(3천톤급잠수함)에서 최종 목표까지 발사에 성공했기 때문에… 이런 차원에서 북한보다 앞서 있다고 평가할 수 있는 거죠.]

▲ South SLBM / North ahead?
The SLBM we developed also has critical limitations.

The SLBM is a weapon designed for covert nuclear retaliatory strikes during the Cold War, as we, as non-nuclear countries, cannot carry nuclear warheads.

The warhead weight of our SLBM made by remodeling the Hyunmoo-2B is up to 1 ton,

It is calculated that at least 50,000 rounds are needed to produce the same explosive power as North Korea’s sixth nuclear test.

[양욱 / 한남대 국방전략대학원 겸임교수 : 우리 SLBM의 경우 사실 건물하나 무너뜨리는 것도 불가능해요. 차라리 잠수함발사 순항미사일 (SLCM)을 굉장히 여러 개 보유하고 있다면…]

All six countries that previously deployed SLBMs are nuclear powers.

Korea is the 7th or 8th, but it seems clear that it is the first case of operating a conventional warhead SLBM.

This is Kang Jeong-gyu from YTN.

YTN Kang Jeong-gyu (live@ytn.co.kr)

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]