Opposition lawmaker warns of N. Korea's forward deployment of new multiple rocket launchers

People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won urged the government and military to establish an immediate and resolute defense posture, warning that North Korea is forward-deploying new 240mm and 600mm multiple rocket launchers along the border while also expected to complete fortification of the Military Demarcation Line around 2028.

Yoo said Friday on social media that "North Korea's provocative threats against the South are advancing to an even more sophisticated and lethal stage."

Citing a Ministry of National Defense briefing held Thursday, Yoo said North Korea "is accelerating its military buildup in border areas, installing minefields and wire fencing along the MDL while simultaneously deploying 240mm and 600mm multiple rocket launchers and new self-propelled artillery."

"If North Korea's threat to the greater Seoul area was once centered on 170mm self-propelled guns and 240mm multiple rocket launchers, we are now seeing the forward deployment of a far more diversified and dangerous weapons mix — including new precision-guided 240mm multiple rocket launchers, 600mm super-large rocket launchers and tactical missiles," he said.

He also assessed that new 155mm howitzers, whose deployment has been announced for later this year, would be rolled out sequentially to frontline corps and long-range artillery units.

"If new weapons systems combining extended range and precision-strike capability are deployed at the front, they will pose a qualitatively different security threat — capable of striking not only the greater Seoul area but key military facilities in the central region as well," Yoo warned. He added that the strategy of cross-deploying new assets alongside existing long-range artillery to neutralize South Korea's detection, interception and response systems "must never be overlooked."

Yoo also expressed concern over North Korea's "southern border fortification" effort. He said that at Thursday's plenary session of the National Defense Committee, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that "of the approximately 250-kilometer MDL stretch, about 90 percent of the cleared-zone construction has been completed, and installation of minefields and barbed wire is 30 to 60 percent finished."

He went on to say that South Korea's military projects North Korea's border fortification will be completed around 2028, calling the current situation "grave, with border fortification and the forward deployment of new weapons in border areas being pursued simultaneously." Yoo urged the military to "thoroughly analyze North Korea's evolving threats and substantially strengthen its overall response capabilities and readiness — from surveillance and detection through to interception and retaliation."

He also said the military must "thoroughly counter North Korea's diversified threats through the seamless fielding of division-level counter-artillery radars and the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher," and pledged to "carefully oversee the necessary force buildup and readiness enhancement so our military can stay one step ahead."

The statement came partly in response to a North Korean show of force that became known shortly after Thursday's National Defense Committee session was suspended. Yoo said breaking news had emerged "immediately after the suspension of Thursday's plenary session that North Korea had fired around a dozen 600mm super-large rocket launchers into the Donghae." He said the provocation level "is rising even at this very moment — new weapons being forward-deployed, MDL fortification under way, and an unrelenting series of shows of force."

Yoo closed by urging the government not to "rely on one-sided dialogue or complacent thinking as security threats intensify," and called on it to "do everything in its power to establish a firm military readiness posture capable of responding immediately and decisively to any North Korean provocation, and to maintain an airtight combined defense posture with the United States."