Editorial: South Korea Launches Fifth 1,800-Ton Submarine

RoK Navy Type 214 Submarine (Image: Wiki Commons)

By Zachary Keck

South Korea launched Yun Bong-gil, the fifth of its Type 214 submarines, on Thursday.

South Korea’s Navy launched the fifth of its 1,800-ton class submarines on Thursday.

The Yun Bong-gil, the fifth of South Korea’s KSS 2-class (Type 214) diesel-electric air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines, was launched July 3 at a shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries, the company that produced the submarine. The ceremony was presided over by Adm. Hwang Ki-chul, the chief of Naval Operations at the South Korean Navy.

The vessel is named after Yun Bong-gil, a famous anti-Japanese Korean fighter from the colonial era. South Korea’s last two submarines, the Kim Jwa-jin and the Ahn Jung-geun, were also named after independence fighters.

The new Type 214 submarine is equipped with the Haeseong-3 missile, a supersonic, stealth precision-guided ship-to-surface missile with a range of 1,500 km. “The cruise missiles with a maximum range of 1,500 kilometers are capable of carrying out precision strikes against enemies’ key facilities,” a Navy official said,Yonhap News Agency reported. This capability will likely be used to target key missile launch facilities in North Korea as part of South Korea’s active deterrence strategy. The new submarine can also lay mines for anti-submarine warfare missions. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat