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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Raphael Rashid in Seoul

What is South Korea’s ‘monster missile’, and what does it mean for relations with the North?

A mobile launcher carrying the Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile features during a ceremony marking the 76th Armed Forces Day held in Seoul in October 2024.
A mobile launcher carrying the Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile features during a ceremony marking the 76th Armed Forces Day held in Seoul in October 2024. Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

South Korea has said it will begin deploying its largest ballistic missile yet at the end of the year – a projectile known as the “monster missile” by local media – marking a significant upgrade of its conventional arsenal as tensions rise with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Defence minister Ahn Gyu-back recently told Yonhap News that South Korea must build a “considerable” number of the Hyunmoo-5 missiles in order to “achieve a balance of terror” in the face of the threat posed by the North, and that a next-generation missile with even greater power is needed.

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