S. Korea Deploys Guided-Missile Vessel



South Korea bolstered its naval defense capabilities Tuesday along its western sea border with North Korea by deploying its first guided-missile high-speed boat.

The deployment of the 440-ton Yun Yeong Ha comes as tension mounts in the Yellow Sea after North Korea scrapped the 1950-53 Korean War truce and threatened the safety of South Korean and U.S. naval vessels near the Northern Limit Line, according to Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea says the border should be drawn farther south. The two Koreas clashed near the border island of Yeonpyeong in 1999 and 2002, resulting in the deaths of dozens of soldiers on both sides.

The South Korean Navy said it has commissioned a survivor of the 1999 battle as captain of the vessel, which was named after a lieutenant commander who was killed in the 2002 clash.

The Yun Yeong Ha is equipped with guided missiles that can hit targets as far away as 140 kilometers and a 40-millimeter gun that can fire 600 bullets per minute, the Navy said in a statement.

The ship, partially coated with stealth technology, also has a 76-millimeter gun that can hit targets up to 16 kilometers away and can travel at the speed of 40 knots or 74 kilometers per hour, it said.

"The ship is symbolic of the spirit our six fallen soldiers showed in the second Yeonpyeong battle," Chief of Naval Operations Jung Ok-keun was quoted as saying of the deployment.