The official media of South Korea's military is reporting that the last Gumdoksuri-class fast patrol ship was commissioned with the Republic of Korea Navy (ROK Navy) on January 11, 2018. Jeon Byeongik (전병익) is the final of 18 PKG (or PKX-A) class patrol vessels.
The last PKG of the ROK Navy, Jeon Byeongik, was commissioned on January 11 at Jinhae Naval Base.
The ceremony held at the Jinhae naval base, near Busan (Southern South Korea) was attended by more than 100 people including Han Dong-jin (chief of staff).
Jeon Byeongik was built by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding and launched on 24 June 2016. Displacing 560 tons, the vessel has a total length of 63m, a total width of 9m and a maximum speed of 44 knots.
The class is fitted with a Hyundai Wia 76mm gun main gun, one S&T Dynamics 'No Bong' 40L/70K dual 40mm gun aft, 4x LIG Nex1 SSM-700K Hae Sung anti-ship missiles, LIG Nex1 Chiron MANPADS and 2x S&T Dynamics K6 12.7 mm machine guns. The crew complement is 40 sailors.
The PKX-A is being followed by the PKX-B program. The first vessel has been delivered to the ROK Navy in October last year.
