"The ministry has decided to concentrate on enhancing defense capabilities to make leading responses to security threats from all directions possible, as well as on building and properly managing a smart military based upon state-of-the-art science technologies," the ministry said, as cited by Yonhap News Agency.
The ministry added that South Korea is "superior" to North Korea in "short-range ballistic missiles qualitatively and quantitatively."
"We will secure ample interception capabilities against new types of ballistic missiles North Korea has recently test-fired," the ministry said.
The announcement comes amid repeated launches of what Seoul believes to have been short-range missiles by Pyongyang, which have increased in frequency over the past few weeks. North Korea has called the launches a warning against South Korean-US joint military drills, which began on August 5 and will last through August 20.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the South Korean presidential administration said that the South Korean Armed Forces were capable of countering the short-range missiles tested by North Korea.
