Pacific Stars and Stripes
October 26, 1999
Pg. 3
Report: NK Rodong-1 Missile Battalions In Place
By Jim Lea, Stripes Osan Bureau Chief
North Korea has deployed four battalions, whose Rodong-1 missiles can reach targets anywhere in South Korea and some parts of Japan, according to a South Korean newspaper report.
The Korean-language Chosun Daily News reported Monday that four battalions - one in North Pyongan Province bordering China and three stationed in North Hwanghae Province near the Demilitarized Zone - have been combined into a new missile division. The newspaper attributed the information to an unnamed high-ranking South Korean government official.
In a recent annual defense white paper, the Defense Ministry referred to a new North Korean missile division, but ministry officials could not be reached Monday for confirmation of the report. As a matter of policy, U.S. command officials in South Korea do not comment on intelligence reports.
The newspaper said each of the battalions has launch pads for nine Rodong-1 missiles, which have an estimated range of 800 miles. Pyongyang first test-fired the Rodong-1 missile in 1993 and began deploying the missile last year, according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey (Calif.) Institute of International Studies.
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