South Korea has successfully upgraded its Cheongung-I air defense system into the Cheongung-II system that is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as well as aircraft, the state arms procurement agency said Monday.
The first batch of the upgraded Cheongung system has been deployed and is expected to be fully installed and operational across the military by 2027, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.
The upgrade is part of a broader project aimed at sharpening the country's air defense capabilities against North Korean missile threats.
Compared with deploying new Cheongung-II systems, DAPA said upgrading them from an earlier version can help significantly cut costs.
As a core asset of South Korea's multilayered Korea Air and Missile Defense system, the Cheongung-II operates at a mid-tier altitude and is capable of carrying out precision strikes against enemy ballistic missiles, while the Cheongung-I is designed to intercept aircraft.
The homegrown system has also been sold to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
