Korean Navy to Participate in Pacific Rim Exercise
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
A fleet comprised of South Korean destroyers, submarines and maritime aircraft departed for Hawaii Monday to participate in a large-scale international maritime exercise beginning late this month, the Navy said Monday.
The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is to be held in the waters off Hawaii from June 29 until July 31, the service said in a news release.
A ceremony was held at the Naval Operations Command in Busan to mark the departure of the fleet, led by the 4,500 ton Munmu the Great KDX-II class (DDH-976) destroyer, it said.
Capt. Park Lae-beum commands the fleet, which also includes the 3,000 ton Yang Man Chun (DDH-973) KDX-I class destroyer, a 1,200 ton submarine, a P-3C maritime patrol airplane, a Lynx anti-submarine helicopter and two other surface support vessels, according to the release.
``I'm sure our Navy will enhance its operational capabilities during the exercise through various multinational maritime maneuvers and test-firing of ship-to-air and submarine-to-ship missiles,'' Vice Adm. Park Jung-hwa, chief of the operations command, said in a statement.
RIMPAC, which started in 1971, is a biennial multinational power projection and sea control exercise conducted under the leadership of the U.S. Third Fleet. This is South Korea's 10th participation in the exercise since 1990.
The exercise is designed to increase mutual cooperation and enhance the combined operations capabilities among the countries around the rim of the Pacific Ocean so that they can ensure the safety of major sea lines of communication and improve their combined response capabilities in the event of conflict at sea.
This year's participants include the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, Japan, Chile, Peru, the Netherlands and Singapore.