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Narino patrol combat corvette (PCC)

The Colombian Navy (ARC) received three vessels from South Korea in late July as part of its 'Plan Orion 2' naval expansion scheme that aims to significantly increase patrol capabilities by 2030.

The South Korean Navy handed over a decommissioned patrol ship to the Colombian Navy free of charge on 31 July 2014. The Navy held an event to commemorate the handover at its base in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province. The patrol combat corvette (PCC) Anyang was commissioned in December 1983 and retired in September 2011 from protecting the nation’s waters. The 1,200-ton Anyang was the first corvette transferred to a foreign country.

South Korea's ties to Colombia run deeper than trade and go back to the Korean War. Colombia contributed an infantry battalion and one frigate. The Navy said in a press release “Colombia was the only country that dispatched its 5,100 troops and frigates during the 1950-53 Korean War among countries of Central and South America”. When Colombian troops arrived in Korea on June 16, 1951, Seoul had just been recaptured by UN forces for the second time. Of the 4,314 soldiers who fought in total, 141 were killed, 448 were wounded, 69 were recorded as missing in action, and 30 became prisoners of war.

The only two countries to have received these retired Korean corvettes who had both the need and the capacity to deploy them - Colombia and the Philippines - were Korean War allies. In fact the only recipients from their respective regions, although the remaining retired ships may eventually be donated to any random country in need (that explains why other regional customers like Peru and Indonesia were not given free corvettes to be persuaded to shop Korean). Consider it as one of Korea's humble ways of paying gratitude in a military sense.

The Colombian Navy renamed the ship “Narino” after the country’s independence fighter Antonio Narino.

Pohang-class vessels were built in South Korea and commissioned into its military between 1986 and 1993. The 1,240-tonne ships can carry a crew of 95 over an effective patrolling range of 4,000 nautical miles. The vessels have a maximum speed of 32 knots.

The ROKS-755 Anyang (ARC Narino), was the last ROKN vessel to have been equipped with the Exocet missile. After the removal of Exocet from ARC Narino for transfer to Colombia, there are no more Exocet missile in active service in ROK inventory.

In 2012 Colombia ordered 16 SSM-700K Hae Sung I (Sea Star) anti-ship missiles from South Korea to arm the frigates. These missiles were designed and developed by the Korea Agency for Defense Development (ADD) over the previous decade and they equip until now only destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROK). The missiles have an operational range of more than 150km with a speed of 0.85M.