SEOUL - Republic of Korea (ROK) has deployed a cruise missile that can strike the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the defense ministry here said Thursday, a week after its northern neighbor's botched rocket launch.
The cruise missile with an estimated range of more than 1,000 kilometers can "strike anywhere" in the DPRK, a ministry official reportedly said during a briefing.
"The military will unrelentingly punish North Korea (DPRK) if it attempts another reckless provocation," the official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
The deployment is viewed as a response to rising cross-border tensions following Pyongyang's failed rocket launch, which Seoul and Washington called a long-range missile test in disguise.
The DPRK is believed to be in possession of more than 800 ballistic missiles and some 1,000 missiles of various ranges.
It has 3,000-kilometer-range intermediate-range ballistic missiles that can strike the entire Korean peninsula as well as US military installations in Japan and Guam, according to ROK's latest defense white paper.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 
