"It will be the country's first military communications satellite," said Colonel Yoon of the Joint Chiefs of Staff office.

The Defense Ministry and KT, the country's top communications firm, are jointly funding the launch and the two have agreed to jointly manage and control the new satellite.

Seoul has launched and maintained three commercial satellites -- the Mugunghwa 1, 2 and 3 -- since 1995. Mugunghwa 4 does not exist as the number four has bad luck connotations in Korea.

France's Alcatel has built the satellite body and transmitter while US-based firm Sea Launch is responsible for the launch into an orbit of an altitude of 36,000 kilometers (22,000 miles).

The new satellite is expected to significantly improve the South Korean military's communications network, Seoul's Yonhap news agency said.

The military on Monday deployed a new military command system, known as "C4I" which is also part of its efforts to take over wartime operation control of its forces from the United States, Yonhap said.

The wartime control shift would mark a major change to the traditional alliance between South Korea and the United States that has been in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

The two countries set up the so-called Combined Forces Command in 1976 to oversee South Korean and US troops guarding against any North Korean invasion.

The command has been headed by the United States, but Seoul wants to dismantle the command in response to Washington's drive to redeploy and cut back on its forces stationed in South Korea.

Some 32,000 US troops are stationed here to help 650,000 South Korean military troops face up to North Korea's 1.2 million-strong army.

The Koreas are still technically at war because they have yet to replace the 1953 armistice that ended the war with a proper peace treaty.

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