South Korea has plans to build its own longer-range ballistic missiles to defend itself against North Korean attacks.

South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin said, "We are holding technical negotiations over extending the missile range so that it would cover the whole of the Korean peninsula."

The nation is also in discussion with the US regarding revising their Bilateral Missile Accord signed in 1979, which limits its production of ballistic missiles to a range of up to 300km and a payload of up to 500kg.

According to Xinhua News Agency, South Korea may also acquire Global Hawk surveillance aircraft from the US to increase its border surveillance capabilities.

Currently, North Korea has more than 800 ballistic missiles, 1,000 other missiles of various ranges and intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 3,000km.