South Korea launches new Aegis destroyer Dasan Jeong Yak-yong

South Korea has launched its latest Aegis destroyer, the Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, at a ceremony held Wednesday at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in the southern city of Ulsan. The 8,200-ton vessel is the second of three destroyers being built under the Navy’s Gwanggaeto-III Batch-II project. The first, the Jeongjo the Great, was commissioned in December. Once delivered next year, the Dasan Jeong Yak-yong will become the Republic of Korea Navy’s fifth Aegis destroyer.

Measuring 170 meters in length and 21 meters in width, the warship can reach speeds of 30 knots. It is equipped with the U.S.-made Aegis Combat System, an indigenously developed integrated SONAR system, and advanced interceptor capabilities. The vessel can also deploy MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine operations.

The Navy and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a joint statement that the destroyer, together with the Jeongjo the Great, “is equipped with the most powerful combat capabilities among the Navy's surface ships and will become a core asset of a maritime-based three-axis deterrence system.”

Named after Jeong Yak-yong, a prominent thinker of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), the destroyer is scheduled to be delivered by the end of next year and will join the Navy’s Task Fleet Command.