"Under a 2001 accord with Washington, South Korea has been barred from developing and deploying ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300km (186 miles) and a payload of more than 500kg (1,100lb) to avert a regional arms race. The restriction has made its missile capability inferior to that of the North and put key military sites out of range.
South Korea announced on Sunday that the US accord had been altered to allow the South to have ballistic missiles with a range of up to 800km to cope with the North's nuclear and missile threats."
