Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attended a welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the three South Korean vessels and boarded the Marado. According to the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, this is the first time that a Japanese defense minister has boarded a South Korean warship in history, which is considered a move that symbolizes the improvement in the bilateral relations.
This was also the first time a South Korean warship has entered a Japanese port in two years since its supply ship ROKS Soyang (AOE-51) participated in the International Fleet Review held in November 2022 in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo, alongside vessels from the United States, Australia and other countries. In addition, it also became the first time a South Korean Navy vessel solely has entered a Japanese port in six years since 2018.
The latest port call came just one day after the three South Korean vessels conducted a goodwill exercise with the JMSDF training ship JS Hatakaze (DDG-171/TV-3520) off the coast of the Kii Peninsula, located in central Japan.
Since an incident in December 2018 when a ROKN destroyer pointed its fire control radar at a JMSDF patrol aircraft, Japan-South Korea defense cooperation had gotten extremely worse until recently.
But since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office two years ago, relations have improved significantly. In June this year, the two countries’ defense chiefs agreed on measures to prevent a similar incident. The three countries, including the United States, nowadays work closely together to respond to any ballistic missile launches by North Korea.
ROKS Marado is the second of the Dokdo-class landing ships. It has a standard displacement of 14,800 tons, a full load displacement of 19,000 tons, an overall length of 200 meters, a beam of 31 meters, and a draft of 6.6 meters. It has a maximum speed of 23 knots. The ship has a crew complement of 330 sailors and is capable of carrying 720 marines, 6 MBTs, 7 KAAVs, 2 LCACs, and 7 to 12 helicopters such as the MUH-1s and MAH helicopters.
It is armed with 4 KVLS cells that launch a total of 16 K-SAAM (surface-to-air missiles) Sea Bow, and 2 Phalanx Block 1Bs close-in weapon systems (CIWS). In addition to a crew of 330, it can carry more than 700 landing forces, vehicles, helicopters, landing craft, etc. It has a full-length flight deck that can take off and land multiple helicopters, and the well dock at the stern can accommodate two air cushion craft, etc.
ROKS Cheonjabong is the second of the Cheonanbong-class LST, with a standard displacement of 4,950 tons, a full load displacement of 7,140 tons, an overall length of 127 meters, a beam of 19 meters, and a draft of 5.4 meters. It has a maximum speed of 23 knots and can carry about 120 crew members, 300 landing forces, vehicles, helicopters, etc. It is armed with one twin 40mm machine gun and has a helicopter deck but no hangar.
ROKS Daecheong is the second of the Cheonji-class fast combat support ship, with a standard displacement of 4,200 tons, a full load displacement of 9,200 tons, an overall length of 136.0 meters, an overall width of 18.2 meters, and a draft of 6 meters. It has a maximum speed of 20 knots. It has a crew complement of 130. It is armed with one twin 40mm machine gun and two 20mm machine guns. It has a helicopter deck at the stern.
