November 5, 2024: The South Korean Navy has 17 frigates, all of which entered service between 1992 and 2024. There are thirteen destroyers, three corvettes and 34 patrol boats. There are also 22 submarines and 21 amphibious warfare ships. The frigates and submarines are the first line of defense along South Korean coasts. The patrol boats patrol and report what they encounter. It’s up to the larger warships to deal with any threat. The most prominent ships defending the coasts are the frigates. The destroyers and larger submarines operate much farther from Korea.

Since 2017 all South Korean navy ships have been built in South Korea. At the end of 2016 South Korea retired the last U.S. built warship in its fleet, a support vessel, a 3,000 ton salvage and rescue ship that entered U.S. service in 1972 as the USS Beaufort. This ship retired from American service in 1996 and was transferred to South Korea, where it served as the Pyeongtaek (ATS-27) for another 20 years. South Korea put two locally designed and built ATS ships into service in 2014 and 2016.

South Korea began designing and building its own warships in the late 1970s. This began with patrol boats, advanced to corvettes and frigates in the 1980s, to amphibious ships, submarines and destroyers in the 1990s and after 2000 to larger destroyers similar to the American Aegis destroyers. By the 1990s South Korea began to export warships to other Asian nations and that continues to expand. The latest South Korean warship is the 4,200-ton frigate Chungnam, the first of six FFX-III ships of this class.

In 2013 South Korea commissioned its first FFX frigate. The FFXs are 3,200 ton ships and are each armed with a 127mm gun, eight anti-ship or cruise missiles, three torpedo tubes, a RAM anti-missile launcher, and a Phalanx anti-missile gun system. There is space aft for two helicopters. FFX’s are for coast defense. FFX replaces older Ulsan class frigates and Pohang class corvettes. In 1986 one of the Pohang’s confronted and sank a North Korean gunboat that entered South Korean waters and refused to obey signals to withdraw. In a similar 1996 incident, two North Korean warships withdrew as ordered.

The 24 Pohang-class corvettes came in two variants. The first is an anti-ship version which has two Exocet anti-ship missiles, a 76mm gun, and a twin 30mm anti-aircraft gun. The second is an ASW version , which has two 76mm guns, two triple 12.75-inch torpedo tubes, and two twin 40mm anti-aircraft guns.

The FFX ships are highly automated, requiring a crew of only 140. Top speed is 61 kilometers an hour. Range is 8,000 kilometers. Most of the equipment (including electronics) and weapons are locally built. South Korea plans to build at least fifteen of these ships. The first six were all in service by 2015. The first ship in the class, the Ulsan, cost over $110 million. South Korea hoped to export the FFX to many navies who want a quality, low cost, warship. Meanwhile, South Korea has also built larger warships and is getting more into submarine production.

South Korea has also paid a lot of attention to amphibious operations, which would be essential if there were ever a war with North Korea. In 2018 the South Koreans put the last of four LST II class amphibious assault ships into service. These 7,100 ton vessels can carry 300 troops as well as 10-20 vehicles. There is a landing pad that can hold 2 helicopters. Two smaller landing craft that can run up on a beach are also carried. The ship is 126 meters long, 19 meters wide, and has a crew of 120. Top speed is 42 kilometers an hour. Cruising speed is 32 kilometers an hour, and at that speed the ship can stay at sea for 18 days. Weapons consist mostly of anti-missile systems plus a 76mm gun. The first ship entered service in 2015. The navy has four 1990s LST I class ships as well as two larger 18,000 ton Dokdo class LPH helicopter landing ships that carry 720 marines and ten helicopters as well as 200 vehicles put ashore via landing craft or hovercraft. The navy has eight of these and four can operate from LPHs.

These LST II class ships are part of an expansion of South Korea amphibious forces. The South Korean Marine Corps was expanded from 25,000 men to 29,000. The South Korean marines were initially organized into two divisions and a brigade. As part of the expansion, a new brigade and helicopter squadron were formed to help guard the North Korean border on the west coast. The aviation battalion uses 30 of the new KUHs (Korean Utility Helicopter). Nicknamed Surion, KUH carries 2 pilots and 11 passengers. It can be armed with 7.62mm machine-guns. Some 60 percent of the components are made in South Korea. The 8.7 ton KUH can hover up to 3,000 meters and has a top speed of 240 kilometers an hour.

Currently, the South Korea marines are equipped with 60 LVTP-7 amphibious vehicles, 42 AAV-7A1s, and 60 K-1 tanks. This force is officially under the control of the South Korean Navy but usually operates under command of the army. Currently, about 5,000 marines are stationed on the west coast, including nearby islands. The new brigade will expand this force.

In 2016 the marines were ordered to form a special rapid deployment brigade called Spartan 3000. This unit has 3,000 marines assigned and is trained and ready to move anywhere in the Korean peninsula within 24 hours. Marines rotate into and out of Spartan 3000 because the work is particularly demanding. Spartan 3000 is meant to quickly respond to any North Korean attack by defeating any North Korean special operations forces that get into South Korea and also go after key targets in North Korea. To assist with that there are about another thousand South Korean special operations troops involved.

The South Korean marines are considered an elite force, even though many of the troops are draftees. But all the marines are volunteers and the training is tough. It's considered an honor to be a marine, and their original mentors, the U.S. Marine Corps, have long acknowledged that their Korean counterparts learned their lessons well.