South Korea’s successful development of its first upper-tier missile interceptor marks a major milestone in Seoul’s decade-long effort to build multi-layered defenses against North Korean missile threats, reflecting a growing push for indigenous capabilities.

But while the Long-range Surface-to-Air Missile (L-SAM) system will go a long way toward reinforcing missile defenses, experts emphasized that it will be far from infallible and will struggle to handle more sophisticated DPRK weapons currently under development, including glide weapons and cruise missiles.

The completion of the new capability also does not signal a fundamental shift away from