South Korea has confirmed that it tested a new short-ranged surface-to-surface missile on 22 November, but has refused to release any details including the name or designation of the missile. It reportedly has a range of 100km, although during the test it flew only 50km before landing in the Yellow Sea. South Korea signed a deal with the US in 1979 to voluntarily limit its missiles to 180km range with a 300kg warhead. In January 2001, this was changed to allow a range of 300km and a payload of 500kg. South Korea joined the Missile Technology Control Regime in March.--Stephen V Cole