Agence France-Presse, South Korea is developing a mobile truck-mounted laser weapon capable of destroying North Korean missiles and artillery shells, a report said Nov. 10.
A defense ministry research team and defense firms have been involved in the development of high energy laser weapons, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.
From 2010, South Korea hopes to deploy the weapon, which can counter North Korean missiles and long-range artillery shells deployed along the border, it said.
South Korea faces a potential military threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, which has improved its missile system to cover all east Asia.
In July 2007 North Korea test-fired seven missiles, including the Taepodong-2, which in theory could reach the U.S. west coast. This year the North has tested a series of short-range missiles.
The North’s missile launches have heightened tensions in the region in the past decade. In 1998 North Korea sparked alarm in Japan by test-firing a long-range missile over that country.
