ID :
60619
Thu, 05/14/2009 - 17:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/60619
The shortlink copeid
Aegis destroyer leads S. Korean naval expansion amid N. Korea threat
(ATTN: photos available)
By Sam Kim
ABOARD SEJONG THE GREAT, South Korea, May 14 (Yonhap) -- As tension mounted on
the Korean Peninsula ahead of North Korea's April 5 rocket launch, the captain of
a South Korean warship monitoring the North's movements felt like the last kicker
at the penalty line in a World Cup shootout.
"The score is deadlocked at 4-4, and I'm the last man on our team stepping up to
the line," Captain Kim Duk-ki said, speaking aboard Sejong the Great, South
Korea's first Aegis combat destroyer.
The warship, commissioned in 2008, led the South Korean military operation
earlier this year that detected and tracked the rocket that North Korea claims
put a satellite in orbit.
The U.S. -- which says nothing entered space and that the launch was a disguised
test of ballistic missile technology -- had deployed two of its Aegis destroyers
to conduct its own monitoring activities.
Kim, who skippers South Korea's only Aegis destroyer that took a decade to
procure, said the responsibility of detecting the rocket weighed heavily on his
shoulders, as failure to track the launch would have rendered the ship seemingly
meaningless and hurt the pride of his forces.
"Even though we've tried hard to train ourselves, we have yet to prepare this
ship for full operational use," he said.
"But I was relieved when I was later told we were successful in detecting the
launch and that we were even the first to do so," he told reporters at the
Donghae naval port on the east coast.
Aegis combat destroyers are capable of monitoring targets hundreds of kilometers
away. Sejong the Great has radars capable of detecting objects about 1,000 km
away, and can shoot down targets within a radius of 150 km, according to the
Navy.
South Korea plans to have two more Aegis destroyers in operation by 2012, a feat
considering the number of ships the country had in 1945 following its liberation
from Japanese colonial rule -- none.
"It was reality made out of what seemed impossible," Naval Chief of Staff Jung
Ok-keun said, visiting the destroyer that hosted the naval conference.
Jung said the threat of North Korean provocation along the two Koreas' western
sea border lingers, stressing the importance of naval expansion. The border was
the scene of two deadly clashes in 1999 and 2002.
South Korea operated only 28 patrol boats during the Korean War. Rapid economic
development has since enabled the country to procure a 14,000-ton amphibious
vessel and a range of submarines and destroyers.
"Now is the time to step up by expanding the reach of the navy," said Kim
Tae-hyo, citing the recent rescue of a North Korean freighter by a South Korean
naval unit in pirate-infested Somali waters. Kim, the presidential secretary for
national security strategy was also visiting the destroyer.
The Korean War ended without a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at
war.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Sam Kim
ABOARD SEJONG THE GREAT, South Korea, May 14 (Yonhap) -- As tension mounted on
the Korean Peninsula ahead of North Korea's April 5 rocket launch, the captain of
a South Korean warship monitoring the North's movements felt like the last kicker
at the penalty line in a World Cup shootout.
"The score is deadlocked at 4-4, and I'm the last man on our team stepping up to
the line," Captain Kim Duk-ki said, speaking aboard Sejong the Great, South
Korea's first Aegis combat destroyer.
The warship, commissioned in 2008, led the South Korean military operation
earlier this year that detected and tracked the rocket that North Korea claims
put a satellite in orbit.
The U.S. -- which says nothing entered space and that the launch was a disguised
test of ballistic missile technology -- had deployed two of its Aegis destroyers
to conduct its own monitoring activities.
Kim, who skippers South Korea's only Aegis destroyer that took a decade to
procure, said the responsibility of detecting the rocket weighed heavily on his
shoulders, as failure to track the launch would have rendered the ship seemingly
meaningless and hurt the pride of his forces.
"Even though we've tried hard to train ourselves, we have yet to prepare this
ship for full operational use," he said.
"But I was relieved when I was later told we were successful in detecting the
launch and that we were even the first to do so," he told reporters at the
Donghae naval port on the east coast.
Aegis combat destroyers are capable of monitoring targets hundreds of kilometers
away. Sejong the Great has radars capable of detecting objects about 1,000 km
away, and can shoot down targets within a radius of 150 km, according to the
Navy.
South Korea plans to have two more Aegis destroyers in operation by 2012, a feat
considering the number of ships the country had in 1945 following its liberation
from Japanese colonial rule -- none.
"It was reality made out of what seemed impossible," Naval Chief of Staff Jung
Ok-keun said, visiting the destroyer that hosted the naval conference.
Jung said the threat of North Korean provocation along the two Koreas' western
sea border lingers, stressing the importance of naval expansion. The border was
the scene of two deadly clashes in 1999 and 2002.
South Korea operated only 28 patrol boats during the Korean War. Rapid economic
development has since enabled the country to procure a 14,000-ton amphibious
vessel and a range of submarines and destroyers.
"Now is the time to step up by expanding the reach of the navy," said Kim
Tae-hyo, citing the recent rescue of a North Korean freighter by a South Korean
naval unit in pirate-infested Somali waters. Kim, the presidential secretary for
national security strategy was also visiting the destroyer.
The Korean War ended without a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at
war.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
