By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

NORTH Korea has developed missiles that can be launched from ships or submarines, further cutting down the distance that the missiles need to travel to hit targets on Guam.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Congress, the submarine or ship-mounted ballistic missile system has a range of at least 2,500 kilometers.
Because the ship-mounted missiles are more mobile, the report said the missiles could pose a more serious threat than the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, which was tested by North Korea last year.
North Korea test-launched the Taepodong-2 and other medium-range missiles, including Scud and Rodong missiles last July, causing an outcry in the region and worrying Guam officials.
Because of the tests, Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo and Sens. Jesse Lujan, R-Tamuning, and Antonio Unpingco, R-Santa Rita, have lobbied the U.S. to include the island under the U.S. radar and anti-missile protective system.
Both the land and sea-based North Korean missile systems are based on the decommissioned Soviet R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile, a single-stage, liquid-propellant missile.
In addition to these missiles, North Korea reportedly has more than 600 Scud and Rodong missiles that can cover South Korea and Japan.
According to Bordallo, the North Korean missiles are a serious concern to the nation, the U.S. allies in the region, and most importantly to Guam.
But she added that the U.S. has the means to protect Guam against missile threats.
To counter missile threats in the region, the U.S. Navy currently has eight destroyers equipped with the most advanced Aegis missile guidance system at its Yokosuka base, with most of the ships upgraded to serve missile defense missions.
In addition, Aegis destroyers are constantly deployed all along the Pacific, especially the Sea of Japan, with sophisticated missile tracking radar and full ballistic missile defense capability.