“China has strongly protested against the [South Korean] government’s decision to donate a 1,200-ton patrol boat and a landing vessel to the Philippines, it emerged Monday,” reported August 5 by The Chosun Ilbo, one of major news providers in South Korea.
“According to the Foreign Ministry, an official at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul visited the ministry on June 10 after the decision was reported by media and asked for it to be canceled,” it added.
On Philippine side, there is no report of cancellation.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang-jin told Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin at a meeting in Seoul last May 30 that Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) will decommission a Pohang-class corvette (PCC) by year-end and will be donated to the Philippine Navy.
Minister Kim said South Korea’s gesture is a small token compared with the great contribution of Filipino troops during the Korean War.
Pohang-class corvettes, a class of general purpose vessels operated by the Republic of Korea Navy, are equipped with 4 Harpoon missiles, 2 OTO Melara(76mm)/62 compact cannon, 2 Breda 40mm/70 cannon, 6 Mark 46 torpedoes, 12 Mark 9 depth charges. Sensors and processing systems depend on whether it is an ASW or ASUW version.
The said ship is expected to be donated with intact armament and sensors.
(AngMalaya)
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