A South Korean engineer works on a K-30W Chunho 30mm wheeled anti-aircraft gun at the Hanwa Space factory in Changwon on November 21, 2024. (Photo AFP/JUNG YEON-JE)
CHANNEL NEWS ASIA | Published November 22, 2024
CHANGWON, South Korea: At the outskirts of a South Korean industrial city, workers at a sprawling weapons factory were conducting final-stage testing for a newly built surface-to-air defence system that could, eventually, head to Ukraine.
Longstanding domestic policy bars Seoul from sending weapons into active conflict zones, but ever since its spy agency accused the nuclear-armed North last month of sending thousands of soldiers to help Moscow fight Kyiv, South Korea has warned it might change course.
If so, likely top of the list for Ukraine would be the “Cheongung” – or Sky Arrow – air defence system, a domestically-produced Iron Dome-style interception shield that AFP saw Thursday (Nov 21) during an exclusive tour of the Hanwha Aerospace factory in the southern city of Changwon.
As the melody of Beethoven’s Fur Elise played on repeat over the in-house speaker, veteran welders worked on huge cylinders that will become part of the interceptor system, which is defensive in nature – although Hanwha also produces an attack-focused variant.
“The Cheongung system can be thought of as similar to the US Patriot missile system,” said senior manager Jung Sung-young at Hanwha Aerospace, South Korea’s largest defence contractor.
Ukraine is reliant on Western air defence systems, particularly Patriots, to protect itself from Russian missile barrages – and has been calling for more deliveries.
Washington said in June it would prioritise deliveries to Kyiv, ahead of other countries that have placed orders.
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SOURCE: www.channelnewsasia.com
RELATED: South Korea finds Russia supplied anti-air missiles to North Korea in return for troops
Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems move through Red Square in Moscow, Russia. (File photo: AFP)
ENGLISH AL ARABIYA | Published November 22, 2024
Russia has supplied air defense missiles to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday.
The US, South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently began engaging in combat. It has been unclear what Russia would give North Korea in return.
Shin Wonsik, national security adviser for President Yoon Suk Yeol, told a SBS TV program Friday that South Korea has found Russia provided missiles and other equipment to reinforce its air defense network for Pyongyang, the capital.
Many observers say North Korea likely feels the urgent need to boost its air defense capabilities for the capital after the North last month accused South Korea of dropping propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang. North Korea threatened to take military action if leaflets were again dropped. South Korea’s military has refused to confirm whether or not it was behind the alleged drone flights.
Shin says Russia has also give economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed to help the North build a reliable space-based surveillance system.
During a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin already said that Moscow was willing to help the North build satellites. North Korea put its first spy satellite into orbit in November last year, but foreign experts question whether that satellite can produce militarily meaningful imagery. The North’s attempt to launch a second spy satellite failed in May.
Seoul and Washington have voiced worries about possible Russian transfers of sensitive nuclear and missile technology to North Korea. Shin didn’t say whether Russia has already transferred such technology. Many experts said it is unlikely for Russia to do so in the initial stage of the North’s troop deployment.
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