South Korea blames North Korea for firing Soviet S-200 missile

The National Defence Ministry of South Korea has stated that the missile that the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] fired on November 2 in the direction of the demarcation line was a Soviet S-200 (SA-5 according to the NATO classification).

The ministry made the statement in a message published on its official website on November 10.

It is noted that the military came to this conclusion after analyzing the wreckage of the rocket - the rear part of the fuselage and part of the engine, the total size of which was 3-m-long and 2-m-wide.

An analysis by the research institute under the National Defence Ministry showed that the overall appearance is similar to the SA-5 anti-aircraft missile, according to the South Korean military. In addition, markings in Russian were found on the wreckage.

"It was analysed that the missile that North Korea fired south of the Northern Boundary Line (NLL) in the East Sea on the 2nd for the first time in history after separation was an SA-5 anti-aircraft missile. The South Korean military concluded that the missile was launched using it as a surface-to-surface missile, and strongly condemned it as a deliberate provocation," the statement said.

The South Korean military notes that if the S-200 is launched at a ground target, its range can be up to 300 km.

The S-200 was developed in 1967 to intercept high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that were inaccessible to other air defence systems. Subsequently, it was replaced by the S-300.