North Korea deploys 300 new multiple launch rocket systems along front line

North Korea has deployed some 300 new multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) along its front line with South Korea, which can hit Seoul and surrounding areas, South Korean military sources said Sunday. 

Local sources, citing intelligence findings, said Pyongyang has placed the 122 millimeter rocket launchers north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, the official Yonhap news agency reported. 

These weapons systems have an estimated range of some 40 kilometers that can place large areas in and around the capital city within striking distance. 

"The North has been deploying the new rocket launchers with regimental units along the DMZ since 2014," said an official insider, who declined to be identified. 

He said that there is a pressing need to counter such threats, adding that both Seoul and Washington have made joint threat assessments on these weapons systems. 

The latest rockets while having the same diameter as those used to attack Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, have twice the range. 

There are two known variants of the MLRS, with one having 30 barrels per unit and the other having 40. 

If the North fired off 30-barrel launchers all at once, it could send some 9,000 rockets into the South. 

The military said the rockets could place most of north Gyeonggi Province within their range, and theoretically hit northern parts of Seoul like the presidential Cheong Wa Dae and some areas of Incheon. 

They will augment the country's 170 mm very long range self-propelled artillery pieces that can send shells 53 kilometers down range and the 240 mm MLRS that can fire projectiles as far as 64 kilometers. These large caliber rocket launcher systems will cover all of Seoul if placed near the inter-Korean border and reach as far south as Ansan and Seongnam. 

Military experts said that South Korea currently does not have weapons that can intercept such threats, and the only measure it can take is to carry out pre-emptive strikes, which entail serious risks of actually starting a conflict. 

The defense ministry, meanwhile, officially said it cannot confirm if the 122 mm MLRS have been deployed but stressed countermeasures to deal with such systems are included in the 2017-2021 midterm national defense plan.

Source: QNA