By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
ULSAN _ President Roh Moo-hyun appeared to be moved by the ``most brilliant achievement'' of the country's defense technology during a ceremony to launch South Korea's first Aegis destroyer on Friday.
His 15-minute speech was emotional and the President expressed full confidence that the Navy would sail toward a powerful oceangoing force to keep up with neighboring naval powers.
``This is the most brilliant achievement of our national defense science and technology combined with our shipbuilding technology, and a demonstration of our strong willingness to build independent defense capabilities,'' Roh said, apparently referring to the arms race between Japan and China. The ceremony was held at Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard here.
North Korea also responded bluntly to the historic commissioning of the ship, named ``Sejong the Great,'' by test-firing a short-range missile into the East Sea.
Speculations varied but some analysts said the test-launch was likely an expression of the communist regime's jitters over South Korea's ever-increasing naval capabilities.
As for the jitters from the North over the Aegis destroyer, Park Chang-kwon of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) said, ``The Navy's role and missions have been restricted to coastal waters. But the Aegis ship will make the Korean Navy outright dominant over the North Korean Navy and enable it to effectively cope with regional disputes at the same time.''
Park cited ongoing maritime disputes in Northeast Asia over the boundaries of exclusive economic zones (EEZs), undersea natural gas resources and the sovereignty of islands such as the Dokdo islets between South Korea and Japan.
``In general, a naval power represents a nation's power,'' Park said. ``Securing a fleet of Aegis ships will enable the nation to protect our people and maritime interests on our own,'' he said. ``Most of all, the KDX-III's advanced anti-ballistic missile system will safeguard South Korea from the North's missile threats.''
But he stressed securing Aegis ships does not mean an arms race with Japan and China given the two powers' rapid military buildup.
The Japanese Navy has already deployed four Aegis-equipped warships and is seeking to build three more, while the Chinese Navy has purchased four 7,900-ton Russian destroyers and is busy building four 6,000- to 8,000-ton nuclear-powered attack submarines and four advanced 7,000-ton destroyers.
Strategic Mobile Fleet
Capt. Jung Sung-yup of the Navy's public affairs office called the Aegis destroyer a cornerstone for developing a modernized ``strategic mobile fleet,'' with greater operational range and firepower, which can be deployed to an area of conflict.
The modernized mobile fleet of Aegis destroyers, submarines, anti-submarine aircraft and frigates will enable the Navy to conduct both independent and joint naval operations with its allies for purposes such as securing southern sea lanes for energy supplies and peacekeeping, he added.
The Naval base to be built on Jeju Island by 2014 will serve as a homeport of the mobile fleet, Navy officials said.
Under the KDX shipbuilding program that began in the 1980s, South Korea has deployed three 3,000-ton KDX-I light destroyers of the Gwanggaeto the Great class and six 4,300-ton KDX-II stealthy destroyers of the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class.
The Navy wants to build three more KDX-III ships in addition to the two scheduled for deployment in 2010 and 2012. Gwanggaeto was the king of Korea's Goguryeo Kingdom (B.C. 37-668). Admiral Yi of the Joseon Kingdom defeated Japanese invaders between 1592 and 1598.
The first 14,000-ton amphibious large-deck landing ships is to be operational with the Navy in July. The Defense Ministry recently endorsed a $2.7 billion project to build 3,000-ton submarines with the country's own technologies by 2017
Currently, the Navy operates nine German-made Type-209 submarines (1,300-tons), all diesel and electric powered; and a Type-214 submarine (1,800-ton), named Sohn Won-il, developed under technical cooperation with HDW of Germany.
Joining Aegis Club
Aegis, built by Lockheed Martin of the United States, is the world's most advanced shipboard weapon system capable of simultaneous operations against aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, ships and submarines, as well as striking inland targets.
With the commissioning, South Korea became the fifth country operating the state-of-the-art Aegis Combat System following the United States, Japan, Spain and Norway. But the KDX-III features the most powerful radar and attack capabilities because of the combination of the newest Korean and U.S. technologies.
``The Aegis system is continuously evolving to take advantage of the latest technologies and address new threats,'' said David P. Luhta, director of Korea programs at Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors. ``Due to the very close alliance between Korea and the U.S., the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin consider it very important to provide the most current technology and advanced capability version of Aegis available.''
He said the KDX-III system has the same capability regarding firepower, defendable area and reliability that the U.S. Navy's DDG 103, which is now under construction, possesses.
The latest SPY-1D radar for the KDX-III can detect and track about 1,000 targets within a 1,000-kilometer radius and then engage 20 of them at the same time, maintaining constant surveillance of the sky. The radar provides full 360-degree coverage.
The 166-meter-long ship can carry 128 sophisticated missiles including locally developed ship-to-ship missiles and torpedoes in its MK41 Vertical Launch System and Korea Vertical Launch System and will also be used in supporting ground operations, Navy officials said.
Planned missile systems include ship-to-air SM-2 Block IIIA/B Tactical Standard missiles, built by Raytheon Systems, with a range of 170 kilometers; Cheonryong (sky dragon) ship-to-surface cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers; and Hongsangeo (red shark) long-range ship-to-submarine torpedoes with a target range of 19 kilometers.
Other armaments include the 150-kilometer-range Hae Seong (sea star) ship-to-ship missiles, RAM MK-31 guided missiles and a 30-mm ``Goalkeeper'' system for engaging incoming sea-skimming anti-ship missiles and the 5-inch/62-caliber MK 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun.
Stealth technology has also been used, making radar detection harder. The ship will be ready for the future electronic warfare with the domestically-built SLQ-200(V) SONATA electronic warfare system.
She can carry 300 crewmembers and is able to sail at a maximum speed of 30 knots with a cruising range of 10,000 kilometers. Its per-unit price is $1 billion.
The destroyer can carry two mid-sized helicopters and is scheduled to be deployed operationally as early as late next year, according to the Navy.