Navy to hold postponed int'l fleet review in Sept.

▲ This file photo, provided by the Navy, shows South Korean warships rehearsing on waters off the country's southern island of Jeju, on Oct. 9, 2018, a day ahead of an international fleet review. (Yonhap)

Navy-fleet review

Navy to hold postponed int'l fleet review in Sept.

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- The Navy is set to hold an international fleet review in late September, after it was postponed due to political turmoil triggered by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched attempt to impose martial law, officials said Monday.

The Navy had initially planned to hold the event in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in May to mark the 80th anniversaries of South Korea's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule and the establishment of the South Korean Navy, but postponed it to the second half of the year.

This year's event will likely involve only South Korean vessels without featuring foreign warships, the defense ministry said.

"I understand the fleet review will only comprise our vessels rather than involving those from other nations," ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou said in a regular press briefing.

A Navy official said the fleet review is likely to take place at the end of September, with a review currently under way on whether to invite the U.S. side as part of efforts to boost the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

If held, the event will mark the Navy's first international fleet review since 2018. Previous reviews were held in 1998, 2008 and 2015.

Japan was invited to join the 2018 event but did not participate amid a row over its plan to fly its Rising Sun ensign, which is castigated in Korea as a symbol of its imperialist past.

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