It has emerged that the South Korean military proposes to spend $2.1 billion over five years on programs to improve its capability to deal with North Korean aggression.

Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan Jin made the request for KRW2.5 trillion in funding during a fiscal policy meeting held on April 28th, days after North Korea’s failed April 13th long-range rocket launch.

The Ministry of National Defense reportedly proposes to spend the money on procuring long-range ‘Hyunmu-3C’ cruise missiles with a range of 1500km, supplementing existing 500km and 1000km versions of the same hardware, GPS-guided bombs and a new short range ballistic missile, among other things.

As a cruise missile, the Hyunmoo-3C does not fall under the auspices of limits on ballistic missile range and payload imposed by membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which is why the South Korean government has pumped large amounts of money into its development by the Agency for Defense Development in Daejeon. Under the MTCR, South Korea is prohibited from developing ballistic missiles which can carry a payload of 500kg more than 300km.