The Republic of Korea warship, ROKS Choi Young, has been deployed as part of EU NAVFOR off the coast of Somalia. The invaluable cooperation between the Republic of Korea and European Union warships is helping to strengthen maritime security to keep seafarers safe as they transit the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.

ROKS Choi Young is a Sun-sin class destroyer and entered service in September 2008. Equipped with the latest military and surveillance technology, she is perfectly suited to counter-piracy operations.

Commenting on what was the second integration of ROKS Choi Young to EU NAVFOR, Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander, Rear Admiral Rafael Fernández-Pintado Muñoz-Rojas said “By cooperating with the Republic of Korea Navy, we were able to show how EU NAVFOR develops its understanding of the maritime security situation off the coast of Somalia by talking to local coastal communities and conducting surveillance at sea. This in turn enabled the Republic of Korea Navy to assess how their capabilities can be best employed to contribute to Operation Atalanta’s counter-piracy efforts and importantly, to pass this knowledge on to the next Republic of Korea warship that will participate in EU NAVFOR.”

During the last week ROKS Choi Young and EU NAVFOR warships cooperated at sea to carry out combined operations and training.

The commander of the Republic of Korea fleet, Vice Admiral Jung Jin-sup stated: “The first combined operation between the Cheonghae unit and EU NAVFOR at the end of February was highly successful and this further coordination has taken our cooperation a step further.”