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jeremy9931 t1_j2b9bmx wrote

Reply to comment by The_General_Li in South korean military has successfully completed a solid fuel space rocket test. by r2vcap

It’s not really a fair comparison since South Korea was restricted on what high-range weaponry they could develop for years and only got the range ban lifted last year by the US. I suspect they’ll be doing lots of catch-up tests over the next few years.

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tiempo90 t1_j2cpwri wrote

This is "thanks" to Trump.

Trump wanted the Asian allies to be more independent (because "they aren't paying enough!" as if the US is a mercenary force and not in Asia for their own benefit), so (finally) cut the restrictions on rocket / missile distance, meaning South Korea could focus on rocket / missile development.

And since then, they've become the world's 7th (?) country to independently send a 1 tonne payload to space... something like that. Only about 2 years ago.

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jeremy9931 t1_j2dijc5 wrote

Sort of, Trump agreed to relax it to 800 km in 2017, Biden eliminated them completely in March of 2021. It was inevitable that they were going to get scrapped by the next president, no matter who it was.

They’re making exceptional progress for sure.

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The_General_Li t1_j2bmof3 wrote

That's not actually a real restriction, not for countries who are independent.

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jeremy9931 t1_j2bwv04 wrote

It was for South Korea, a requirement forced on them in order to be allowed access to US missile technology in the ‘70s. It certainly should have been lifted years ago though.

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