South Korea to Have Solid Fuel Rockets in Major Deal with US

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Tuesday it has won U.S. consent
 to use solid fuel for space launch vehicles, a move that is expected to
 enable Seoul to launch its first surveillance satellites and acquire 
technology to build more powerful missiles.
Solid fuel offers greater mobility for missiles and rockets, and 
reduces launch preparation time. But Washington had imposed strict 
restrictions on Seoul’s use of solid propellant for space launch rockets
 out of concern that it could be used to produce bigger missiles and 
cause a regional arms race.
 
On Tuesday, the South Korean government said that Seoul and 
Washington have agreed to revise related bilateral missile guidelines to
 lift such restrictions.
Kim Hyun-chong, deputy presidential national security adviser, told 
reporters that all South Korean research institutes, companies and 
individuals are now free to develop, produce and possess space launch 
rockets using solid fuel.
Kim said the revised agreement still bars South Korea from having a 
missile with a range of more than 800 kilometers (500 miles). But he 
said Seoul can discuss altering that restriction with Washington if it's
 needed for South Korean national security. A missile fired from South 
Korea with a maximum range of 800 kilometers is still enough to strike 
all of North Korea.
Kim said that South Korea’s intelligence and reconnaissance 
capability would be significantly improved when it produces and launches
 solid-fuel rockets to put low-earth orbit spy satellites into space. He
 said it makes more sense to use solid fuel rockets for such satellite 
launches because the price of solid propellant is only about one tenth 
of the price of liquid propellant.
“Theoretically, we can launch a low-earth orbit satellite via 
liquid-fuel rockets, but it’s like delivering a dish of ‘jjajangmyeon’ 
by a 10-ton truck,” he said, referring to a popular delivery food in 
South Korea.
Kim said South Korea has no military spy satellites while regional 
powers have dozens of them. He said the use of solid fuel rockets would 
help South Korea get an “unblinking eye” that monitors the Korean 
Peninsula around the clock.
Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert at South Korea’s Science and 
Technology Policy Institute, said South Korea could operate two or three
 low-earth orbit surveillance satellites to better monitor North Korea. 
He said solid propellants are easier to handle and require much less 
rocket launch times, though they have weaker thrust forces than 
high-quality liquid propellants.
Lee said the latest deals with the U.S. would also allow South Korea 
to expand its space development infrastructure and accumulate know-how 
to manufacture missiles that can fly longer with bigger warheads. 
Experts say ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share 
similar bodies, engines and other technology.
Jung Changwook, head of the the private Korea Defense Study Forum, 
agreed that technology to produce solid-fuel rockets can also be used to
 build longer-range missiles. He said the United States likely agreed on
 the deals’ revision to strengthen its alliance with South Korea to 
better cope with China.
South Korea’s missile capability is inferior to that of rival North 
Korea. In 2017, North Korea carried out three intercontinental ballistic
 missiles tests as part of its efforts to build a nuclear-tipped missile
 capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. In 2013, South Korea succeeded 
in thrusting an observational satellite into orbit aboard a rocket 
blasted from its soil for the first time, but parts of that rocket were 
built with Russian help.