The Republic of Korea Navy's 3,100-ton frigate ROKS Daejeon has been awarded the top honor in a live-fire gunnery competition held during this year's Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, the service announced Sunday.

The ROKS Daejeon, a Daegu-class (FFX Batch II) guided-missile frigate optimized for anti-submarine and coastal operations, scored the highest points among 13 warships from 10 countries participating in the Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) Rodeo, held in Hawaii last month. The NSFS Rodeo is a competitive live-fire event that tests warships' accuracy and effectiveness in naval gunnery against shore-based targets.

This marks the first time in 16 years that a Korean warship has claimed the top prize in the competition. The previous Korean victor was the Aegis-equipped destroyer ROKS King Sejong the Great, which won the honor in 2010.

The gunnery competition itself took place on July 12, but results were formally announced during the RIMPAC closing ceremony held Friday at U.S. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

RIMPAC, first launched in 1971, is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Hosted biennially by the U.S. Pacific Fleet in and around the Hawaiian Islands, it is designed to enhance cooperation among participating nations in securing sea lines of communication and countering potential security challenges at sea.

At this year's exercise, South Korea served as commander of the Combined Force Maritime Component, a significant leadership milestone. This made Korea the first Asian country and the fourth non-U.S. participant overall to assume the commanding role in RIMPAC's history. The dual achievements — the CFMCC command and the gunnery award — underscore Seoul's deepening engagement in multinational maritime security frameworks alongside allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific.

Navy sailors aboard the ROKS Daejeon posed for photographs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following the announcement of the award.

Source: The Korea Times