Latest S. Korean contingent begins anti-piracy operations off Somalia

The latest contingent of South Korean troops began anti-piracy operations in waters off Somalia, Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said Tuesday. The 300-strong contingent aboard the 4,400-ton destroyer Munmu the Great is the eighth replacement of the Cheonghae unit since its deployment in early 2009 under a global effort to tackle piracy there, according to South Korean (Yonhap) News Agency. It replaced a similar-sized contingent aboard the destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin. The latest team arrived in Oman on Saturday and has launched its mission of protecting South Korean vessels off the Somalian coast and providing support to ships of other nations in nearby waters, the JCS said in a statement. On its way to Oman, the contingent stopped in Singapore for a piracy-related information exchange meeting and in the United Arab Emirates for a joint exercise. In January, Navy commandos from the Cheonghae unit raided a South Korean freighter hijacked by Somalian pirates in the Arabian Sea, rescuing all 21 crew members and killing eight pirates.