President Lee Jae-myung attended the launching ceremony for the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, a new Aegis destroyer, on the 30th and stressed self-reliant defense, saying that "security that leans on the strength of others wavers along with that country whenever its circumstances or conditions change." With security threats mounting after a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone on the western front, the president signaled a determination to secure core capabilities such as nuclear-powered submarines and manned-unmanned carriers.
Speaking at the ceremony at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan shipyard, Lee said he would "press ahead to the end toward realizing self-reliant defense." The Daeho Kim Jong-seo is the sixth vessel and completes a domestic Aegis destroyer program that began with the Sejong the Great 19 years ago. The ship measures 170 meters long and 21 meters wide, has a light displacement of about 8,200 tons and can sail at a maximum speed of 30 knots, or about 55 kilometers per hour.
It carries an advanced sonar suite and a ballistic missile system developed with domestic technology. Because it can also perform interception missions, which the earlier Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers could not, it completes a core capability of the sea-based mobile three-axis system.
Lee said at the ceremony that "the Republic of Korea has become a country that designs, builds and operates world-class warships on its own." He added that "the defense industry is a core national industry" and that "advanced private-sector technology must be moved quickly into the defense sector."
The president also pledged to "actively widen the paths for academia and companies, not just the military, to research and invest together," saying he would "cut back complicated procedures and expand support so that new technologies are fielded as quickly as possible."
Chung Ki-sun, chairman of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which built five of the six Aegis destroyers including the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, said the company would "firmly defend the Republic of Korea's economy and security with a sense of duty that we are the ones building the ships that guard the world's seas."
Three-Axis System Spans Pre-emptive Kill Chain, Interception and Retaliation
The greatest significance of the Daeho Kim Jong-seo is that it extends the Navy's response to ballistic missiles from detection and tracking to interception. The existing Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers could detect and track North Korean ballistic missiles but had no ability to shoot them down. The Jeongjo the Great class, which includes the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, reflects the capability to operate sea-based ballistic missile interceptors, and once the ships are fielded and the interceptors loaded, they will be able to stop enemy missiles directly at sea.
Lee's insistence on stronger independent defense capabilities at the Ulsan ceremony — "our seas must be defended by our own strength, and the same goes for our skies and our land" — is read as a reflection of that confidence. At the ceremony, the president stressed that "self-reliant defense is sovereignty itself."
"Security that leans on the strength of others wavers along with that country whenever its circumstances or conditions change," Lee said. "This is a reality we are already witnessing at this very moment." He added that "only when we can defend ourselves can we decide our own future for ourselves."
Lee cast the Daeho Kim Jong-seo as a symbol of that self-reliant defense. Once offensive armaments such as ship-to-land ballistic missiles are fully installed, the vessel will strengthen not only defense but also long-range strike capability against key North Korean nuclear and missile targets. That expands the sea-based reach of the Korean three-axis system, which consists of the Kill Chain for detecting signs of a North Korean missile launch and responding pre-emptively, the Korea Air and Missile Defense system for intercepting incoming missiles, and Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation for striking leadership and critical facilities in a contingency.
Interception Missions Beyond Reach of Earlier Aegis Ships
Backbone of Sea-Based Three-Axis System Now Complete
Moon Seong-mook, head of the unification strategy center at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said that "combining the Navy's mobility with the long-range detection capability of the Aegis system widens the response envelope from the signs of a North Korean missile launch through the flight phase." The expert added that "it means the operational space of the Korean three-axis system expands from land and air to the sea." Even if North Korea varies its launch points and flight paths, the options for detecting and intercepting at sea increase. The so-called shield at sea grows thicker.
After performance evaluation and sea trials, the ship is to be delivered to the Navy in December next year, giving the service a fleet of six Aegis destroyers — three of the Sejong the Great class and three of the Jeongjo the Great class. Shin Beom-chul, senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said the delivery "means the Navy's Aegis destroyer force structure has essentially entered its final stage." He added that "with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats advancing, the detection, tracking and interception capabilities of the sea-based missile defense network will become that much denser."
Lee also signaled that he would concentrate on strengthening the defense industry's capabilities. Calling the sector a core pillar driving both security and the economy, he said he would "make sure new technologies are fielded as quickly as possible." The president said that "there was a time when we borrowed, and a time when we bought," adding that "now the Republic of Korea has become a country that designs world-class warships on its own, builds them on its own and operates them on its own." Describing the Daeho Kim Jong-seo, he again underscored the technological strength of the country's defense industry, saying the ship is "packed with radar that detects targets hundreds of kilometers away, weapons systems that analyze hundreds of targets, and the software that ties it all together."
Lee: "Defense Industry Is a Core National Industry,
We Will Widen Research and Investment Paths for Academia and Business"
Lee also laid out the direction for expanding naval power. "Going forward, our Navy will steadily secure core capabilities of self-reliant defense, such as nuclear-powered submarines and manned-unmanned carriers," he said. The remarks are read as a plan to add nuclear-powered submarines and combined manned-unmanned forces to a sea-based missile defense network centered on Aegis destroyers, building a multilayered maritime deterrence system against North Korea's nuclear, missile and submarine threats.
Before attending the launching ceremony, Lee visited the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seoul to meet soldiers wounded in the Demilitarized Zone landmine explosion on the 21st, along with their families. He called for ample support and respect so that they can focus on treatment and rehabilitation, and promised necessary support for soldiers who wish to continue serving.
The president did not, however, announce measures corresponding to the landmine incident or deliver a separate message criticizing North Korea. Shin said that "the fact that our soldiers were wounded by a North Korean landmine on our own territory calls for a resolute response," adding that "a clearer security message needs to come out on the occasion of Armed Forces Day."
