South Korea has decided to mass-produce a newly developed 120-millimeter self-propelled mortar system later this year, the arms procurement agency said Wednesday.

The government held a defense project promotion committee meeting and decided to sign a 770 billion-won ($648 million) contract in the fourth quarter to produce the mortar system for deployment next year, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

The new weapon, which was developed with indigenous technologies last year, will replace aging 107-mm mortars equipped on K200A1 armored tracked vehicles, and has a maximum speed of 70 kph and a range of 12 kilometers.

The range and firepower are approximately double what the 107-mm mortar is capable of, and it also has an autonomic fire control and reloading system, the agency said. (Yonhap)