First S. Korean anti-piracy naval unit to return home next week

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first naval unit to join an international anti-piracy drive off the Somali coast will arrive home early next week after a months-long operation that rescued six commercial boats, the Navy said Friday.

The 300-crew Munmu the Great destroyer was deployed to the Gulf of Aden in April
this year. Its operation was taken over by another South Korean destroyer, the
Dae Jo Yeong, under a mandate extended by the National Assembly last month.
The Munmu the Great will arrive at the city of Busan on the southeastern coast on
Monday and receive a welcoming ceremony drawing Navy Chief of Staff Jung Ok-keun,
the Navy said in a release.
The deployment marked the first time that South Korea had ever sent a naval unit
to assist an international military operation. The country has sent ground troops
to Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries under peacekeeping or U.S.-led
operations.
Approximately 500 South Korean ships ply the Gulf of Aden each year. About 150 of
them are vulnerable to pirate attacks because of their low speed, according to
the defense ministry.
Somalia has not had a functional government since its dictator was overthrown by
warlords in 1991. Poverty has driven a large number of locals to piracy, and
black market sales of weapons run rampant.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)