Arrived near Hormuz, Cheonghae Unit Mission soon

[아시아경제 양낙규 군사전문기자]Choi Young-ship (4400t class) of the Qinghai unit arrived in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian Revolutionary Guards are located.

On the 5th, a government official said, “Choi Young-ham, the 33rd Qinghae unit, went to the waters near the Hormuz Strait shortly after receiving the situation that the Korean national ship,’Kemi Korea’ was captured by Iran while conducting an operation in the waters south of Muscat Port in Oman. It was dispatched and arrived in the waters near the Strait of Hormuz at the dawn of that day.”

Choi plans to respond to the situation by working closely with the Combined Naval Command (CMF) in Bahrain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

The Choi Young ship is made up of 300 people, including a checkpoint and search team consisting of special warfare (UDT) soldiers and aviation squadrons operating a maritime operation helicopter (LYNX). On January 21, 2011, when Choi Young-ham was performing his first mission to dispatch troops to the 6th Army of the Cheonghae Unit, the’Aden Bay Dawning Operation’ and April 21 of that year rescued all 21 crew members of Samho Jewelry who were captured by pirates. The’Operation to rescue the Hanjin Tenjin crew’ was successfully carried out.

It is known that this is the first time a Korean ship has been put into operation to perform an operational mission in response to the situation in Iran.

On the other hand, a total of 20 people were on board, including 11 Myanmarians, 2 Indonesians, and 2 Vietnamese, including 5 Korean sailors including the captain, 1st to 3rd class navigator, and engine manager. The U.S. State Department, in the name of a spokesperson, requested Iran to promptly lift South Korean vessels from detention, Reuters reported.

Reporter Yang Nak-gyu [email protected]