In 1990, the problem of large proportions of the defense budget going into buying anti-ship missiles from foreign countries was brought up.

After 7 years of research, on August 21, 2003, the ADD successfully test fired the Haeseong and sunk the target dummy vessel.

A mid-range cruise missile, the Haeseong was developed for over-the-horizon warfare, capable of attacking targets out to 150 km (93 miles).

The development agency claims "a 100 per cent accuracy rate in live fire tests", such as at Exercise RIMPAC.

The TSLM is equipped with a submunition warhead capable of "covering two football fields" combining a shaped charge and fragmentation jacket to penetrate armored vehicles and destroy soft targets to strike North Korean artillery and missile systems; it can be retargeted in-flight and has improved obstacle avoidance with a 200 km (120 mi) range.