ROK Navy patrol corvette Gwangmyeong conducts a live-fire exercise at sea, 2017. The Republic of Korea Navy will hold a decommissioning ceremony for the 1,000-ton Pohang-class corvette on December 26 at Jinhae Naval Base. Following the ceremony, Gwangmyeong will be formally decommissioned on December 31, concluding 36 years of frontline maritime service.

Hosted by Vice Adm. Kim Kyung-ryul, Commander of the ROK Fleet, the ceremony will be attended by former commanding officers and crew members of Gwangmyeong, along with senior naval leaders from the Jinhae area. Proceedings will include a review of the ship’s service history and achievements, the reading of the decommissioning order, awards presentations, command remarks, and the lowering of the commissioning pennant.

Commissioned in July 1990 after being built at the Korea Tacoma Shipyard, Gwangmyeong served as a core asset for coastal and maritime defense. The corvette was armed with 76mm and 40mm naval guns, as well as anti-ship missiles and lightweight torpedoes, enabling it to conduct a wide range of surface combat and patrol missions.

Throughout its career, Gwangmyeong was assigned to multiple fleet commands, including the 5th Patrol Squadron and later the 1st and 3rd Fleet Commands, carrying out coastal surveillance, sea lane protection, and search-and-rescue operations.

One of the ship’s most notable achievements came in December 1998, when it tracked and sank a North Korean semi-submersible infiltration craft off the coast of Yeosu after a seven-hour pursuit. In June 2015, the corvette also played a key role in saving lives by rapidly responding to a fishing vessel fire east of Sokcho, rescuing 12 crew members and extinguishing the blaze.

In recognition of its combat readiness and gunnery excellence, Gwangmyeong was selected as the ROK Navy’s “Top Gun” ship in 2017, an honor awarded to the fleet’s most proficient surface combatant in naval gunfire.

Lt. Cmdr. Bae Jun-hee, the ship’s final commanding officer, described Gwangmyeong as “a comrade that has guarded our seas alongside generations of sailors,” adding that it was “a great honor to conclude her distinguished history as her last captain.” Vice Adm. Kim noted that the corvette “served as a backbone of fleet operations and successfully fulfilled its mission of defending the Republic of Korea’s maritime sovereignty.”

As the Pohang-class corvettes retire, the ROK Navy is accelerating the transition to more capable surface combatants, including the Incheon-class (2,500 tons), Daegu-class (3,100 tons), and Chungnam-class (3,600 tons) frigates, which are being deployed across all fleet areas to strengthen maritime security and operational readiness.

K-DEFENSE NEWS | Strategic Analysis Desk

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