The hull number of the Navy patrol killer craft Chamsuri No. 325, which took part in the first Battle of Yeonpyeong in 1999 and was scrapped as junk after retirement, is expected to be revived through the Navy's latest patrol killer craft.
According to materials the Navy Headquarters submitted on the 12th to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Yu Yong-weon, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, the Navy is reviewing selecting patrol killer craft that took part in the first and second Battles of Yeonpyeong and the Battle of Daecheong, whose victory histories should be carried forward, and assigning their hull numbers to the latest patrol killer craft (PKMR).
Chamsuri No. 325, which took part in the first Battle of Yeonpyeong and the Battle of Daecheong, and Chamsuri No. 357, which took part in the second Battle of Yeonpyeong, are reportedly being strongly considered as candidates to have their hull numbers succeeded.
Patrol killer craft under 500 tons (t) do not have ship names, so the hull number serves as the name. Once the hull numbers to be carried forward are decided, new patrol killer craft will, in effect, inherit the names previously used, such as "Chamsuri No. 325" and "Chamsuri No. 357."
The new Chamsuri-class PKMR is a 230 t-class craft equipped with 130 mm guided rockets, search radar, and an electro-optical tracking system, significantly enhancing combat capability compared with the older 150 t-class patrol killer craft.
Commissioned in 1989, Chamsuri No. 325 repelled a North Korean patrol boat that violated the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea during the first Battle of Yeonpyeong in 1999 and defended the NLL on the front line for about 33 years before retiring in 2022. The first Battle of Yeonpyeong was an incident that broke out at 9:28 a.m. on Jun. 15, 1999, in the waters west of Yeonpyeong Island, when a North Korean patrol boat violated the NLL and launched a surprise preemptive strike at our Navy's patrol vessels.
The military, considering the historical value of Chamsuri No. 325, also reviewed designating it as a security exhibit (military materiel) but judged the expected effect to be insufficient and recently scrapped it as junk, sparking controversy that a key figure in the victory was being slighted.
Chamsuri No. 357, which sank after a surprise attack by a North Korean patrol boat in the second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002, is currently on display at the security park within the 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek.