The South Korean navy destroyer ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin patrol the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, March 6, 2012. (Cale Hatch/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. State Department on Monday approved the sale of approximately $300 million worth of upgrades and technical support for guided-missile destroyers in the South Korean navy.
The potential sale, which awaits final approval by Congress, includes several upgrades to South Korea’s six Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyers, according to a news release from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday. The warships are equipped with 32 vertical launch system canisters for surface-to-air missiles and a RIM-116 rolling airframe missile defense system.
The improvements include $300 million worth of upgrades to the destroyer’s fire control system, software updates, personnel training and logistical services, according to the agency.
South Korea is a “major ally” and the potential sale “will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States,” the release said.
The upgrades do not provide additional capabilities to the destroyers but ensure they are “operationally viable in light of obsolescence issues,” according to the agency.
The agency is responsible for the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, which allows for the sale or transfer of defense equipment, training and technology to other countries. Congressional approval is required for sales of more than $25 million to NATO members and five other countries, including South Korea.
The Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class is named after the 16th century Korean admiral who led his forces against the Japanese navy. The warships have been used in maritime missions and multinational exercises since they were first commissioned in 2003.
The ROKS Munmu the Great was dispatched to waters off Somalia to support anti-piracy missions as early as 2009, according to a South Korean coast guard news release.
On Jan. 15, 2011, a South Korean-operated chemical tanker sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, according to a Ministry of National Defense news release the next year.
The ROKS Choi Young, anchored in Ethiopia, responded to the hijacking by offloading South Korean navy SEALs into the tanker by speedboat. All 21 hostages were rescued, and eight pirates were killed, according to the Defense Ministry.
