South Korea has completed deployment of self-propelled air defense missiles in front-line barracks to deter North Korean threats, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Tuesday.

The 30-mm anti-aircraft missile was indigenously developed by the Agency for Defense Development in 1999 and the Army's armored nits have been equipped with them since 2003.

The missiles are capable of conducting missions day and night and can counter airborne attacks by helicopters and fighter jets, the DAPA said.

The DAPA said it plans to modernize the missile to mount a long-range ballistic missile warhead to be able to hit distant targets. (Yonhap News)