Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 27 announced that the nation successfully tested a long-range surface-to-air missile and low-altitude missile defense. Shown is Special Secretary to the President for Public Communication Park Soo-hyun in June last year giving a briefing. (Yonhap News)

By Park Hye Ri and Lee Jihae

Cheong Wa Dae has officially confirmed the nation's successful test-firing of a long-range surface-to-air missile (L-SAM) and low-altitude missile defense (LAMD), two core components of the Korea Air and Missile Defense.

Special Secretary to the President for Public Communication Park Soo-hyun on Feb. 27 said on Facebook, "The Agency for Defense Development on Feb. 23 successfully test-fired an L-SAM and LAMD at the Anheung test site (in Taean-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province) to verify their flight performance."

A custom of the nation's military officials is not to confirm the success of newly developed weapons due to national security reasons. Domestic media such as Yonhap News said Cheong Wa Dae's unusual instance of officially confirming weapons development is due to surging interest in national security due to Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's repeated missile launches.

L-SAM is an anti-aircraft weapon under development to intercept a ballistic missile or plane flying at an altitude of 50-60 km. Development of the L-SAM system is slated for completion by 2024 and for full-scale use in combat by 2027.

Once the L-SAM is ready for full-scale use, it will form a multilayered defense system along with the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile, which flies at a lower altitude of 30-40 km, the Cheongung II midrange surface-to-air missile and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, aka THAAD, an anti-ballistic missile defense system that defends higher altitudes of 40-150 km.

LAMD, which was tested on the same day, is a system guiding projectile launch pads installed at several sites to create an air defense network in the shape of a dome and intercept long-range artillery shells.

Secretary Park said, "'Korea's Iron Dome,' which is meant to defend against North Korea's long-range artillery at an altitude of 10 km or below, is expected to be different from Israel's Iron Dome."

"If you compare the increase in spending by all previous governments to improve national defense as officially announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, such growth under the Moon administration is significantly higher," he added. "The Republic of Korea is a military power with an unshakably strong capacity for national defense and the defense industry and one that supports peace."

hrhr@korea.kr