Yoon celebrates launch of new 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer

▲ President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers congratulatory remarks at the launch ceremony for the Jeongjo The Great destroyer at a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 28, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ First lady Kim Keon-hee cuts the launching line of the Jeongjo The Great destroyer with a hammer during the vessel's launch ceremony at a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 28, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ Jeongjo The Great, a new 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, is docked at a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 28, 2022. (Yonhap)

Yoon-new destroyer

Yoon celebrates launch of new 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol traveled to the southeastern port city of Ulsan on Thursday to celebrate the launch of a new 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, calling it a "national strategic asset" amid his administration's push to strengthen maritime security.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee attended the launch ceremony for the Jeongjo The Great destroyer, named after a visionary king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), which took place at a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. shipyard in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

"Jeongjo The Great, the Navy's first 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer, will further strengthen the Navy's combat capabilities as a national strategic asset based on a cutting-edge combat system that is equipped with the ability to detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles," Yoon said in congratulatory remarks.

"We can become an economic power only if we have the capability of a maritime power that defends itself at sea," he continued, noting that 99.7 percent of the country's trade volume is transported by sea.

"We will build strong maritime security in order that the people can safely carry out economic activities at sea," he added.

Yoon promised to foster the defense industry into a cutting-edge strategic industry at the forefront of the country's economic growth.

The president's remarks were followed by a ceremony where first lady Kim cut the destroyer's launching line in keeping with the Navy's tradition.

The cutting of the line is symbolic of the birth of a new vessel, as it appears similar to the cutting of the umbilical cord.

Women have traditionally conducted the ceremony since Queen Victoria of Britain first oversaw the launch of a British warship in the early 19th century.

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