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Updated November 9th, 2021 at 16:18 IST

South Korea launches Daegu-class frigate named after warship destroyed by North Korea

The 2,800-tonne frigate Cheonan was launched at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, about 410 kilometres southeast of Seoul.

Reported by: Anurag Roushan
South Korea
Image: AP/Pixabay | Image:self
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On Tuesday, South Korea launched a new frigate named after a warship torpedoed by North Korea in 2010. The 2,800-tonne frigate Cheonan was launched at the Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, about 410 kilometres southeast of Seoul, reported Yonhap News Agency citing South Korean Navy. After a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo at it in March 2010, the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan sank at the Northern Limit Line, a de facto western inter-Korean sea border. The incident has killed as many as 46 sailors. 

The launching of the Cheonan had symbolic significance for survivors of the attack and bereaved families who had hoped to see the new warship named after the ill-fated corvette and commissioned to complete her unfinished job of maritime border protection. Around 100 people attended the ceremony, including Defense Minister Suh Wook and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Boo Suk-jong. Choi Won-il, the corvette's captain at the time of the sinking, said he would not attend the ceremony in protest of the state-run communications standards panel's recent decision not to take issue with social media video clips generating conspiracy theories about the ship's sinking, reported the news agency. 

Cheonan: A Daegu-class warship

Cheonan is the seventh Daegu-class warship built as part of South Korea's frigate acquisition programme, code-named FFX Batch-II. The Navy is looking to procure eight ships as part of the programme to replace its outdated fleet of 1,500-ton frigates and 1,000-ton corvettes. A 20-mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, anti-ship and ship-to-ground guided missiles, underwater missiles, as well as hull-mounted and towed array sonar equipment, are all included in the new vessel's arsenal. 

"The frigate is the most recent vessel to be outfitted with tough, native weaponry systems, and we anticipate it to protect the West Sea by respecting the sailors' noble sacrifices and inheriting their will for national defence, a Defense Acquisition Program Administration official was quoted as saying by the news agency. According to an official, the Cheonan will be delivered to the Navy in 2023 and put into service the very next year. It is worth mentioning here that President Moon Jae-in announced in March that the new frigate, the Cheonan, would be launched during an annual event honouring Navy sailors' services to maritime security.

Image: AP/Pixabay

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Published November 9th, 2021 at 16:18 IST

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