Parliament likely to pass motion on deployment to Somali waters next week: spokesman

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly is expected to approve next week a government motion to deploy a warship to Somali waters to fight piracy, a defense spokesman said Thursday.

The parliament's National Defense Committee submitted the motion Thursday morning
to a plenary session expected to open next week, said Won Tae-jae, spokesman at
the Ministry of National Defense.
About 460 South Korean vessels ply the route each year, according to officials,
and the government passed the motion last month to join U.S.-led multinational
efforts to combat piracy in the region.
Speaking at a committee hearing, Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said South Korea's
2003-built Munmu the Great destroyer will likely to be deployed in mid-March if
the bill is passed.
He added the 4,500-ton warship will be retrofitted to accommodate weapons aimed
at repelling close-range threats, while the 310-strong deployment will be named
after a 9th century naval base, "Cheonghae," set up to fight piracy off Korea's
southwestern coast.
Over 110 pirate-related incidents took place in the sea off Somalia last year,
according to the South Korean government, a five-fold jump from two years
earlier.
Pirates are reported to use conventional weapons, such as automatic weapons and
rocket launchers, and capture commercial vessels by clambering aboard them with
ladders and hooks.