Residents, including the Korean community in Chennai, gave a rousing welcome to the Republic of Korea Navy Cruise Training Task Group on their arrival in two ships at the Chennai Port on Friday.
About 460 sailors, including 150 midshipmen from the 78th class of Republic of Korea Naval Academy, arrived in two ships, ROKS Hansando (training ship) and ROKS Hwacheon (combat support ship), arrived at the city port as the 11th port of call to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Republic of Korea.
Chang-nyun Kim, Consul-General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai, said, “As major partners of the Indo-Pacific strategy for peace and prosperity, India and Korea will share regional security and prosperity. I wish the bilateral ties and the various cooperation will extend further.”
Rear Admiral Chung-Ho Cho, Commander of the Cruise Training Task Group, said that India, during the Korean War, had deployed an army medical unit, which was the biggest among the foreign medical support. “With the warm-hearted India extended, the Republic of Korea could recover from the wounds of war and develop into one of the global pivotal countries,” he said.
Jang Jae Kyung, public affairs staff of the Republic of Korea Navy Cruise Training Task Group, said the ships departed from Korea this August and went to Hawaii, Columbia, United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Egypt and then reached Chennai. “The training ship is built for the sole purpose of supporting education and training our midshipmen, who will soon become officers and get commissioned as the Korean Naval Officers. The training will go on for 104 days,” he said.
During the course of the circumnavigation, the ships will visit 12 countries and cover 30,000 nautical miles.
Cruise Training Task Group will also have a defence industry exhibition at the ship and will also conduct a combined exercise with the Indian Navy after leaving the Chennai Port.
