The South Korean military said Thursday it plans to produce 300 K2 Black Panther tanks for deployment in the frontlines, up from the initial plan of 200.

Moon Sang-kyun, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said in a press briefing that the deployment will commence this year with 100 K2 tanks.

“Military officials have raised the need (for the tanks) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided (to increase the number) after considering several technological and environmental changes,” said a JCS official. He did not elaborate on the exact reason for the plan change.

There has been speculation that it was motivated by North Korea’s recent plan to increase deployment of the newer Chonma-ho and Songun-ho tanks.

While the North’s 4,300 tanks vastly outnumber the South’s 2,400, Seoul is generally seen as having a technological advantage.

But the North’s recently unveiled Songun-ho is thought to have tactical capacities that extends far beyond its other tanks.

Military sources speculate that Songun-ho, which first appeared at the North’s military parade in 2010, has a longer range and can accelerate to up to 70 kph, exceeding 60 kph of Pyongyang’s previously deployed Pokpung-ho. It is also assessed to have 125-milimeter-caliber gun turret along with night vision facilities and upgraded fire-control system.

The 55-ton Black Panther can accelerate to up to 70 kph on roads with 1,500 horsepower. It is armed with a Rheinmetall 120 mm L/55 smoothbore gun and a 12.7 mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun.

The initial 100 tanks will be equipped with a German-built power pack, while the rest will feature a domestically designed power pack.

The JCS initially applied for 600 K2 tanks, but the plan was scaled down to 200 considering the costs and military priorities. The tanks cost about 8 billion won ($6.9 million) each.

The military said K2 will replace the U.S.-built M48 Patton tanks. Adding that only the K2, K1 and other advanced K-series tanks will be deployed in the frontlines.

It is speculated that the increased production of the K2s was decided to help the struggling domestic defense industry. The Army has released another plan to introduce 1.8 trillion won worth of Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters for antitank capabilities.

Such speculation was fueled by the fact that the addition of K2 tanks was not included in the Defense Ministry’s five-year plan announced in March.

The ministry denied such allegations, and said that the exclusion of K2 tanks in the March plans was a simple mistake.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)