S. Korea will push forward with light aircraft carrier project, Navy chief says

The comments came from Adm. Boo Suk-jong during a parliamentary audit of Navy headquarters

ROK Navy Chief of Staff Boo Suk-jong refers to prepared notes during a parliamentary audit of ROK Navy headquarters by the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, held at the Gyeryong complex in Chungcheong Province on Thursday afternoon. (Yonhap News)

The chief of South Korea’s naval operations said on Thursday that the Navy’s officers and sailors would band together to proceed with a project to develop a light aircraft carrier regardless of the challenges.

“We’ve been researching this for 25 years, since 1996, during the administration of Kim Young-sam. We also voiced our opinion about the need for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in research about strengthening the navy in 2012,” said Adm. Boo Suk-jong, during a parliamentary audit of Navy headquarters by the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee at the Gyeryongdae complex in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province.

By mentioning how long the project has been under review, Boo sought to refute arguments raised in some quarters that the light carrier project is being rushed along.

Boo’s remarks during the audit reflect an ongoing controversy about the light carrier project. Both politicians and members of the military have argued that a light aircraft carrier is neither necessary nor urgent and that its strategic benefits are unclear. During the National Defense Committee’s audit, lawmakers Ahn Gyu-back and Kim Jin-pyo underlined the need for a light aircraft carrier. But Shin Won-sik, a lawmaker who retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general, sharply criticized the military for its hasty handling of the light aircraft carrier project.

In the parliamentary audit of Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Tuesday, Shin asserted that the project was being pursued by “a handful of megalomaniacs” in the South Korean Navy and cited concerns about corruption, including political lobbying by members of the naval reserves who were on the industry’s payroll.

“I’d like to apologize to former members of the Navy, people in the reserves, and everyone involved for using very inappropriate language about “megalomaniacs’ and ‘concerns about corruption’ in the course of stressing that other naval assets are more urgently needed than a light carrier,” Shin said during the audit on Thursday.

Korea’s Ministry of National Defense has set aside 7.2 billion won (US$6.08 million) in its proposal for next year’s defense budget to initiate a project to build a light aircraft carrier. The ministry’s mid-term defense plan for 2021-2025, released in August 2020, includes plans to develop a concept for a 30,000-ton light aircraft carrier and basic blueprints for the carrier.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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