According to South Korea's YTN, News1 and other media reports, the South Korean Navy launched the second batch of its domestically produced "Aegis" missile destroyer KDX-III at hyundai Heavy Industries Ulsan Shipyard this morning, named "Jeongjo Dawang" ("Jeongjo Dawang" is the temple number of Lee Woo, the 22nd monarch of Lee Joseon, Lee Woo, 1752-1800), hull number DDG-995. YTN said in the report that the "Jeongjo Dawang" has a displacement of 8200 tons, which is 600 tons larger than the "Sejong Dawang" class actively in service in the Rok Navy, equipped with a "standard" SM-6 ship-to-air missile, with a certain terminal anti-missile interception capability, and also plans to be equipped with weapons such as land-attack ballistic missiles, and its "Aegis" system has been upgraded from the "Baseline 7" of the "Sejong Dawang" to the same "Baseline 9" version as the Maya type of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.
DDG-995 "Zhengzu King" at the launch ceremony Image source: YTN TV
South Korean President Yoon Seok-wooon and his wife Kim Jian-hee attended the launch ceremony of the "Jeongjo King", where Kim Jian-hee cut the symbolic cable with an axe, and Yoon Seok-yue also spoke at the launch ceremony.
South Korean President Yoon Seok-wook and his wife Kim Jian-hee attend the launching ceremony Image source: South Korea's News1 News
Kim Jian-hee cuts the cable with an axe at the launch ceremony Image source: Jingxiang News
Jeongjo Dawang is generally considered to be the first ship of the second batch of KD(X)-III guided-missile destroyers of the Roksho Navy, after South Korea completed and delivered the first three destroyers of the series in 2007-2012, the "Sejong Dawang" class destroyers. At a meeting of the RoK's joint staff on the afternoon of December 10, 2013, South Korea decided on plans to introduce three more "interceptable ballistic missile" Aegis destroyers, increasing the number of Aegis destroyers to six. In October 2019, Hyundai Heavy Industries received a contract for the construction of the second batch of KDX-III. first ships, and in October 2021, the first ship held a groundbreaking ceremony. As planned, the DDG-995 Jeongjo King is expected to be delivered to the ROK Navy by the end of 2024 after outfitting and testing evaluations.
In January, SBS tv reported on the "King of Zhengzu" being built in a dock.