Naval Destroyer

[Anchor Lead]

The South Korean Navy is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the deployment of the Sejong the Great destroyers. The inside of the Aegis-guided missile destroyers has been disclosed to the public for the first time.

[Pkg]

A Sejong the Great missile destroyer, the size of a 20-story apartment building laid horizontally, is getting ready to depart from the port.

[Soundbite] "Attention everyone! Salute!"

[Soundbite] "Let's return safely without accidents."

[Soundbite] "Safety! Safety! Safety!"

After lifting six ropes tying the ship to the pier, the Sejong the Great leaves Jinhae Port and heads to Yieodo Island. Each trip, Sejong the Great destroyers spend 20 days sailing at sea. Once a day, an emergency drill is held.

[Soundbite] "Action stations!"

It takes two and a half minutes for all of the some 300 crew members to take their positions at the captain's order. One of the most powerful weapons of Sejong the Great destroyers is their radar. It can detect and trace their aerial targets at 360 degrees from up to one thousand kilometers away. The destroyer's maritime patrol aircraft can detect submarines from midair and can navigate waters three times the size of South Korea to exchange information with naval vessels.

[Soundbite] Kim Jung-tae(S. Korean Navy) : "We conduct defense operations around the clock in the buffer zones of the Yellow and East seas."

After sailing all night long, the ship finally arrives at a scientific research base on Yieodo Island.

[Soundbite] Lee Koo-sung(Captain, Sejong the Great destroyer) : "This ship has protected our waters day and night over the past ten years."

The South Korean Navy has three Aegis destroyers, but it plans to deploy three more by the year 2020.