US, South Korea agree on longer range ballistic missiles

South Korea has announced a deal with the United States to more than double the range of Seoul’s missile systems to cover all of North Korea.

Officials told reporters Sunday the new deal allows Seoul to extend the maximum range of ballistic missiles from the current 300 kilometers to 800 kilometers, a distance long enough to cover all of the north and parts of other countries in the region.

Washington has not commented on the announcement in Seoul.

The announcement is sure to bring an angry response from North Korea.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official says the defection took place around noon on Saturday across the western section of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries. The South Korean military says the soldier used a loudspeaker to inform the South Koreans of his intention to defect.

The official said the soldier is being interrogated and has confessed to shooting two of his superior officers before crossing the border.

The senior analyst in Seoul for the International Crisis Group, Daniel Pinkston, says defections across the DMZ are rare. The border is tightly sealed and heavily armed, and the personnel staffing the area are hand-picked.