The South Korean Defense Ministry said 31 December 2013 it would refer to a recently unveiled North Korean surface-to-air missile as the “KN-06”. The ministry said that it also included a picture of the missile in this year’s defense white paper. North Korea unveiled the ground-to-air missile --- along with a cylindrical launching pad and a missile launcher equipped with phased array radar --- during a military parade to mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
The Defense Agency for Technology and Quality in Seoul said in a report that the North’s new missile is similar to Russia’s S-300 missile and China’s HQ-9/FT-2000 missile. The antiaircraft missiles displayed at the paradar to mark the 65th anniversary of the North Korean Workers` Party on 10 October 2010 were clones of Chinese HQ-9/FT-2000 missile system, though they have the appearance of the up-to-date Russian S-300. It is highly likely that Chinese or Russian technicians participated in developing these missiles.
The availabe imagery shows a TEL with 3 launcher tubes, which could mean that the missile is larger than S-300's 5V55 or 48N6. But the tubes of those TEL's are shorter than S-300 launcher tubes. If the DPRK managed to made something like or at least integrate the Russian 5N63 Tombstone fire control radar with their missile, it would be a great advancement. North Korea's test launch of a KN-06 surface-to-air missile into the West Sea in June 2011 appeared to have been successful, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said at a hearing by the National Assembly's Defense Committee 14 June 2011. "We believe North Korea was testing its latest weapon system and we have concluded that it was a success," Kim said, offering the first such confirmation of the test launch.
The KN-06 is stored in a launching tube and fired vertically toward a flying target. It is similar to the Russian S-300, which is used to shoot down other missiles, and seems to be based on technology that North Korea secretly obtained from China, Russia and other countries. Showing its evolution from the S-300, which had a range of between 75 km and 90 km, the KN-06 is apparently capable of hitting targets up to 150 km (93 mi) away. Each launcher truck can hold two to three missiles. North Korea developed its latest weapon after it encountered difficulties in acquiring new fighter jets from China and other countries.
Some observers questioned whether the KN-06 was related to Iran's continuing work in producing their own domestic S-300 variant.
