Navy Participates in Pacific Partnership Exercise

Landing Ship Cheonjabong Deployed with Engineers and Underwater Construction Equipment

The Navy is participating in the multinational disaster response joint exercise, '2023 Pacific Partnership.'

According to the Navy on the 16th, this exercise, which began in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami recovery efforts, is conducted annually under the auspices of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Command to enhance humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities and to promote military exchange and cooperation among participating countries.

This year's exercise, which started on the 9th, will be held across the Indo-Pacific region until November 21. Korea will participate in the exercise held in the Philippines and Malaysia from the 21st to September 16. Korea has participated mainly with medical personnel since 2007, and this year, for the first time, it is dispatching a combined civilian-military contingent composed of a naval vessel, medical and engineering personnel, and civilian experts.

The training unit participating in this exercise announced that it will depart from Busan Operational Base today. The dispatched vessel is the landing ship Cheonjabong (LST-II), carrying more than 20 engineering and underwater construction equipment units and over 40 types of construction materials. About 180 Navy and Marine Corps personnel, Air Force engineering personnel, professors from the Armed Forces Nursing Academy, and professors and students from Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine will participate in recovery training and humanitarian support activities.

Specifically, from the 21st to the 31st, humanitarian support activities such as school construction and remodeling, community medical support, and veterinary activities will be conducted near San Fernando, Philippines. Joint patient treatment and evacuation training with the Philippine Navy and animal infectious disease response training will also be carried out. Then, moving to Malaysia, joint cooperation training will be conducted with the U.S. Navy’s Pearl Harbor ship, followed by joint field hospital setup training, disaster response training, and combat casualty care education and training near Kuantan, Malaysia. Additionally, shipboard receptions and ship open events will showcase the excellence of the Korean-built naval vessel and promote the bid for the 2030 Busan World Expo.

Captain Park Moon-kwon of the Cheonjabong said, "This is a great opportunity to improve humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities alongside multinational forces and to enhance military cooperation among participating countries. We will continue to develop our ability to promptly deploy in international disaster situations to save lives and swiftly restore damage."