South Korea's latest Aegis destroyer Jeongjo the Great (8,200 tons) set sail Sunday to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world's largest multinational maritime exercise led by the United States.
According to the Navy, the Jeongjo the Great, departing from the Navy's Jeju base on Sunday, will join RIMPAC alongside 31 nations at the U.S. naval base in Hawaii from late this month through July.
This marks the first RIMPAC participation for the Jeongjo the Great, which was commissioned in December 2024. The 3,000-ton submarine Dosan Ahn Chang-ho and P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will also participate for the first time.
The Dosan Ahn Chang-ho will move to Hawaii to join the exercise after completing a combined cooperation drill with Canada together with the frigate Daejeon.
The amphibious landing ship Cheonjabong will conduct a Korea-Japan search and rescue exercise (SAREX) with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Aegis destroyer Kongo in international waters southeast of Jeju on Saturday before heading to Hawaii.
In addition, about 700 Navy and Marine Corps personnel, AW-159 maritime operations helicopters, and six Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicles (KAAV) will participate in RIMPAC as the Korean Navy's Rim of the Pacific Exercise Task Group.
The Navy plans to engage in various maritime and ground exercises with participating nations, including in-port training, force integration training, surface warfare, theater anti-submarine warfare, ground training, amphibious operations, port damage recovery, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief.
At this year's 30th RIMPAC exercise, South Korea will assume the role of Combined Force Maritime Component Commander (CFMCC), commanding multinational naval forces, for the first time since its participation began and as the first Asian country to do so.
"Taking on the commander role for the first time represents a leap from a participating nation to a leading nation," said Rear Admiral Kim In-ho, commander of the Navy's Maneuver Fleet, who will serve as the Combined Force Maritime Component Commander.
