Decommissioned Patrol Ship to Be Given to Colombia

Korea will donate a decommissioned 1,200 ton-class Navy patrol ship to Colombia in efforts to support arms exports to the Latin American country.

"We plan to give the Navy corvette Gunsan, which was decommissioned last Thursday, to Colombia for free," a military source on Sunday said. "It will be delivered in the first half of next year."

This will be the first time a Korean-made combat ship with more than 1,000 tons displacement has been given to a foreign country for free.

Since it was first deployed warfare-ready in 1984, the Gunsan had been on active duty for 27 years. It is armed with two French-made Exocet anti-ship missiles and 76-mm guns.

Korea earlier gave Colombia 8,000 discontinued naval artillery shells as part of plans to export Korean-made arms such as KA-1 light attack aircraft. Colombia sent troops to Korea as part of the UN forces during the Korean War.