The Cheonghae unit arrived near Hormuz Strait… “The rescue operation is unrealistic”

A government official said on the 5th, “The Cheonghae unit arrived in the waters near the Hormuz Strait at dawn (Korean time) and began to perform the mission.”

This is to respond to the situation in which the Iranian Revolutionary Guards captured the Korean chemical carrier, the Korean Chemie, on the 4th. It was dispatched to the Strait of Hormuz while operating in the waters south of the Port of Muscat in Oman.

The Cheonghae unit is working closely with the US to deal with the situation, while working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Since March 2009, the Cheonghae unit has been in charge of escorting Korean ships in the Gulf of Aden and rescues Korean citizens in the area when they are in danger. A Korean destroyer (4400t class) like Choi Young’s shifts missions every six months.

In January of last year, the government expanded the dispatch area of ​​the Cheonghae unit to the Hormuz Strait. He was asked to participate in the International Maritime Security Initiative (IMSC), a US-led Hormuz escort alliance, but it is a form of’distributing independent troops’ without participating.

The independent dispatch is a compromise of indirectly accepting US requests while minimizing friction with Iran. Prior to this, Japan also did not participate in IMSC, but dispatched escort ships and patrol aircraft as the cause of’investigation and research’.

Currently, the Choi Young-ship, dispatched to the Cheonghae unit, has 300 people on board, more than the usual crew size of 200. Marines and air contingents, which support checkpoint and search personnel belonging to the Navy Special Warfare Corps, and ship guard missions, were added.

The Choi Young ship is 150m long, 17.4m wide, and 7.3m deep, and has a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km) per hour. It is equipped with a 127mm gun, a fleet cruise missile,’Haesung’, and an anti-submarine guided weapon’Hong Kong’, so it has strong attack capability. In addition, the SM-II anti-aircraft missile is also installed, allowing it to shoot down enemy aircraft from a distance of up to 140 km, and the missile defense is also possible with a close-up defense weapon system.

In January 2011, Choi Young-ham, who had previously been dispatched to the Cheonghae unit, had the experience of succeeding in the’Aden Bay Dawning Operation’, which rescued all 21 crew members of the Samho Jewelry, and the’Operation to Rescue Hanjin Tenjin Sailors’ in April of that year.

However, the Strait of Hormuz is low in water and is a narrow sea adjacent to the inland, which is exposed to threats from both air and sea. Accordingly, the Navy reinforced equipment and training to prepare for threats of torpedoes, missiles and drones prior to dispatch.

Also, regular Iranian forces are different from pirates. It is armed with various ballistic missiles and submarines. North Korea also imported and deployed torpedoes used to attack the Cheonan. Korean vessels are tied to Iranian ports, but it is difficult to obtain specific information.

Above all, the movement of the Cheonghae unit is inevitably limited as the safety of the lives of Korean sailors and the like and the removal of detention are top priorities. It is a general judgment both inside and outside the military that it is not practical in terms of diplomatic, military, and safety of Korean detainees, although the naval warships are dispatched to the site to determine the situation and pressure, but immediately launching a military operation with one Choi Young ship is not practical.

Reporter Park Yonghan [email protected]