South
Korea's Navy held a ceremony Tuesday to launch its fourth 1,800-ton,
214-type submarine to boost its underwater warfare capabilities. The
fourth submersible of 214-type, which represents the size of the warship,
was launched in the afternoon at a shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering in Geoje Island, southeast of Seoul, the Navy said
in a statement. |
The submarine
was named after Kim Jwa-jin, the nation's famous general of independent
forces during the period of the Japanese colonial rule of South Korea.
Kim led the Cheongsan-ri battle to beat 3,300 Japanese soldiers, the
largest victory of the South Korean independent movement.
President Park Geun-hye, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and other senior
military officials attended the ceremony.
"Submarine Kim Jwa-jin will contribute much to upholding our maritime
sovereignty," Park said. "Under the reality of sharp conflicts
between national interests, it should be necessary to protect our waters
and our national interests in the waters."
The submersible can strike 300 targets simultaneously, and operate various
missions such as anti-ship, anti-air and anti- submarine warfare as
well as ship-to-land precision strikes with cruise missiles.
The diesel-powered submarine can make a round voyage from Seoul to Hawaii
without any refueling. It can also perform underwater missions for two
weeks without any need to come up from the waters.
The submersible will be delivered to the Navy in the second half of
2014 after the assessment period, and will be deployed in 2015 for naval
operations. |
