South Korean Navy's first Aegis-equipped destroyer Sejong the Great has been protecting the country's territorial waters for ten years now.
With its maritime patrol aircraft conducting regular reconnaissance missions, the South Korean Navy is ready to cope with any contingency.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Ten years ago, the South Korean Navy began operating its first Aegis-equipped destroyer, Sejong the Great.

The ship has one of the world's most advanced maritime warfighting capabilities in its ballistic missile defense system.

The Aegis system's SPY-1 radar provides 360-degree, three-dimensional tracking with a range of almost a thousand kilometers, enabling it to fend off attacks from land targets, submarines, warships and aircraft... all at the same time.

Sejong the Great conducts combat station training at least once a day,.. and It only takes about two and a half minutes for the entire crew of 300 to get in position for battle.

But it's not just ships protecting the nation's waters. The South Korean Navy also has P-3C maritime patrol aircraft,... 16 of them,... watching from the sky.

"Our Navy is constantly patrolling the buffer areas in the East and West Seas,... and we are in position to immediately respond to any provocations."

Currently, the South Korean Navy has three Aegis-equipped destroyers, including Sejong the Great,... but it aims to add three more of the same class by 2020 in efforts to expand their role at the center of the nation's maritime power.

"It's been ten years since Sejong the Great took on its first mission, but the South Korean Navy says its first Aegis class destroyer will continue to protect the nation's water. Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News, Jeju"