The South Korean ministry of defence said that the deployment of the first locally developed short-range missile will mark a milestone in the country's effort to improve its defence capability, the Washington Times reported.

The missile, designed and developed by the state-run agency for defence development, has a six-mile range, high mobility and an advance guidance system, the defence ministry said.

Meanwhile, South Korea also sought the permission of United States for research and development of missiles with a range of up to 312 miles -- a range that would cover all of communist North Korea.

Under an agreement, US has given South Korea permission to build only missiles with up to a range of 187 miles.

South Korea also denied reportsthat its was clandestinely building long-range-ballistic missiles and was hiding its missile programme from the US.

New York Times had reported recently, quoting Pentagon officials, that US satellite photos had revealed that South Korea had built a rocket motor test station as part of a larger missile programme without notifying the US.

The station, the report said, included a large concrete or tempered steel cradle in which rocket motors are locked for firing tests.

However, the South Korean foreign ministry said that Pentagon officials had recently visited the facility, which was rebuilt in a new location because of public complaints that the old one was too near an expanding residential area.