[Jeon Du-hwan Death] President Who Opposed Development of Domestic Weapons

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] Former President Jeon Du-hwan, who passed away on the 23rd, is regarded as a representative figure who hindered the development of domestically produced weapons. Under former President Park Chung-hee's 'self-reliant defense' policy, the development of domestic weapons was intensified, but the weapons procurement policy was later changed to purchasing foreign-made weapons.

A government official said, "Initially, the development of domestic weapons such as surface-to-surface guided missiles was in full swing, but when the Jeon Du-hwan regime came into power, the development was effectively stopped, causing delays."

The Agency for Defense Development (ADD), a research institute for weapon system development, began full-scale domestic weapon development under the Park Chung-hee regime's 'self-reliant defense' policy. Weapons developed in the early 1980s included the surface-to-surface guided missile 'Hyunmoo', the ship-to-ship guided missile 'Haeryong', and Baekgom.

However, former President Jeon Du-hwan changed the weapons procurement policy in the early days of his regime to focus on purchasing foreign-made weapons rather than domestic development.

The development plans for the K2, K3, and K5 guided missiles, which were being developed as successors to the 1978 'Baekgom' missile, were also canceled. The scale of ADD was drastically reduced. About 1,000 ADD researchers, including those who received various awards and honors for their contributions to the Baekgom missile development, were dismissed.

However, the situation changed dramatically after the 'Burma Aung San Terrorist Incident.' The Aung San terrorist incident was a North Korean terrorist attack targeting former President Jeon Du-hwan in Myanmar on October 9, 1983. Seventeen South Korean government officials and others were killed in this attack.

After returning to Korea, former President Jeon Du-hwan ordered ADD to form a task force team (TFT). The project promoted at that time was the domestic short-range surface-to-air guided weapon (KSAM) project. Due to the urgent directive, most of the project procedures were omitted.

The Hyunmoo missile, born from the KSAM project, succeeded in its first test flight on September 21, 1985. The 'Hyunmoo-1' was deployed in 1987 but has since been fully retired following the development and deployment of its successor, the 'Hyunmoo-2A.' The Hyunmoo-3 missile, a cruise missile rather than a ballistic missile, began development in the 1990s, with the 3A variant first deployed in 2006. The 'Hyunmoo-3C,' deployed in 2012, has a range of up to 1,500 km.

Currently, our military has also developed the Hyunmoo-4 series. The Hyunmoo-4 missiles include the ship-to-ground ballistic missile 'Hyunmoo 4-2' and the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) 'Hyunmoo 4-4.'