Two S. Korean Navy vessels to join fleet review in China

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will send a helicopter carrier and a
warship to China to participate in the International Fleet Review scheduled for
next week, the Navy said Tuesday.
The annual exhibition will draw about 40 vessels from 20 nations, including the
U.S. and India.
South Korea plans to send the LP-X Dokdo amphibious vessel and the KDX-II Gang
Gam Chan destroyer, the Navy said in a statement.
The Dokdo is a helicopter carrier commissioned in 2007 that also accommodates
armored vehicles, tanks and trucks for landing missions, while the Gang Gam Chan
destroyer is equipped with SM-2 sea-to-air guided missiles.
The April 20-23 event will be held at the Chinese port town of Qingdao, also
marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese navy, South Korean
officials said.
North Korea and Japan will not participate in the event, they said. Dokdo is
named after a small set of South Korean islets in the East Sea that Japan has
laid claim to, while Gang Gam Chan refers to a 10th century Korean war hero.
South Korea held the annual exhibition last year at its southeastern port city of
Busan.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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