Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

The 17th Cheonghae unit(Dae Jo Yeong Ham), which was dispatched in Somali waters to protect Korean vessels, returned safely.

Naval Operations Command held a welcome ceremony for them at Busan operating base on the morning of April 6, to boost national prestige and introduce the excellence of the Korean Navy to the world.

The ceremony was held under the supervision of Lieutenant General Eom Hyun-seong, the commander, and attended by around 1,000 Navy sailors, families of Cheonghae soldiers and others. 

For the last six months of their dispatch period, which started on September 29 of last year, the 17th Cheonghae unit escorted 70 overseas and domestic vessels 22 times. And they successfully completed safe navigation supporting missions for 822 ships. Based on a combined military strength cooperation system, they led a safe navigation by providing our vessels at sea and under operation with information about piracy activities and weather information in time.

In particular, they participated in maritime security operated by Combined Task Forces (CTF-151) under the command of the Combined Forces Maritime Component Command and successfully carried out security operations such as determining piracy movement and checking out suspicious ships.

Last December, they also obtained results in the humanitarian area such as relief activities by rapidly alerting a case of emergency patient on board to neighboring combined forces. 

The 17th Cheonghae unit devoted themselves to military diplomatic activity as well. They had a combined pass exercise with participating ships in anti-piracy operations from Thailand, the U.K., Turkey, etc., as well as developed combined mission capability through an operations and information exchange meeting.

They made a contribution to promoting friendship by visiting major naval forces by port of call. Inviting overseas Koreans from Indonesia, Thailand and Oman for an event, they instilled patriotism and a sense of pride as citizens of Korea.

They also supported various diplomatic and international events such as the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Oman and International maritime and aerospace defense industry exhibition in Langkawi, Malaysia.

Colonel Hwang Seon-woo, the commanding officer of the 17th Cheonghae unit, said, “We could complete our mission with all sailors having faith in certain victory. We are going to lead the protection of our sea by maintaining the best combat readiness.”

By Byeong-No, Yun <trylover@dema.mil.kr>

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