The South Korean Navy has launched its maiden cadet training vessel.<br />A ceremony was held for the Hansando in Ulsan on Friday, attended by the big wigs in the nation's military.<br />Park Ji-won reports. <br />The South Korean Navy held a launching ceremony Friday afternoon for its very first training ship, the Hansando.<br />The ceremony, at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries... in the city of Ulsan, was attended by Admiral Sim Seung-seob,... the nation's Chief of Naval Operations,... and the chair of parliament's National Defense Committee,... Ahn Gyu-back.<br />Work on the ship began back in 2013... with the primary purpose of training cadets and officers.<br />The Hansando weighs 45-hundred tons and is 142 meters long.<br />It can sail more than 12-thousand kilometers, or seven-thousand miles,... at a maximum speed of 24 knots,... or around 44 kilometers an hour.<br />It has berths for a crew of more than four hundred... as well as large lecture halls with some two hundred seats.<br />The ship is also equipped with a deck and hangar for amphibious helicopters... plus guns and an anti-missile decoy system for use in an emergency.<br />It has three operating rooms for medics,... so it can be used to receive and treat casualties if needed.<br />According to the Navy,... the Hansando is scheduled to be deployed from early 2021 for actual operations.<br />The ship's name comes from the southern island of Hansando,... where the 16th century Korean naval hero Admiral Yi Sun-sin won historic battles against the Japanese fleet during the Imjin War.<br />Park Ji-won, Arirang News. <br />
