Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
ROKS Dae Jo-yeong named Navy's 'top gunnery' ship for 2025
Crew members of the Navy destroyer ROKS Dae Jo-yeong pose during a ceremony after being named the top gunnery combat ship for 2025 in this photo provided by the Navy on Sunday. Courtesy of Navy
By Lee Hyo-jin
The Navy's destroyer ROKS Dae Jo-yeong has been named the service's top gunnery combat ship for 2025, an annual honor recognizing units that demonstrate the highest level of combat readiness and firepower proficiency.
The 4,400-ton destroyer earned the title after receiving the highest score in a fleet-wide evaluation conducted from August to September. It marked the ship’s first time receiving the award in 15 years following its previous win in 2010.
Assessment categories included surface and air gunnery drills, teamwork between gunnery crews and system operators and tactical training involving anti-ship guided missiles.
The evaluation placed particular emphasis on coordination across the entire ship, the Navy said, noting that naval gunnery requires close teamwork among all crew members under constantly changing sailing environment and weather conditions.
According to the Navy, the ROKS Dae Jo-yeong achieved top performance through carefully planned training, including test firing, live-fire exercises, missile tactics training and torpedo countermeasure drills.
In preparation for the competition, the crews analyzed five years of past firing data to identify patterns and reduce errors, allowing them to refine firing capabilities and determine the accurate firing solutions.
Beyond the gunnery teams, personnel from operations, engineering and other departments took part in internal tactical discussions and simulated firing drills to strengthen coordination and situational awareness, the Navy said.
The competition, overseen by the Naval Operations Command, is an annual program launched in 1988 to strengthen combat preparedness across the fleet. Warships are evaluated by ship class, taking into account their missions and operational characteristics.
"The honor of being selected as the Navy’s best gunnery combat ship was the result of every crew member working together over the past year to achieve the highest level of combat performance," said Capt. Moon Jung-hee, commanding officer of ROKS Dae Jo-yeong.
Chief Petty Officer Yim Seong-bin, a fire control technician aboard the destroyer, said the crew took immense pride in reclaiming a distinction that had eluded them for 15 years.
"We will continue to focus on realistic live-fire training at sea so that we can deliver accurate hits in any situation," he said.