The Korea Coast Guard will get a female captain in command of a patrol boat Sunday for the first time in its 60-year history.

Superintendent Ko You-me will be a commanding officer of a patrol boat at Donghae Coast Guard Station in Gangwon Province, the Korea Coast Guard in Incheon said.

The 34-year-old currently works at the Korea Coast Guard, managing one of two public communication teams.

She will take the commanding job aboard Patrol Boat 1513 of the station in Donghae, becoming the first female captain since the Coast Guard was established in 1953.

Patrol Boat 1513 is a 1,500-ton-class vessel with 50 police officers aboard. It currently takes turns patrolling the nation’s easternmost islets of Dokdo with a 5,000-ton Sambong, the heaviest class in the Coast Guard fleet.

Superintendent Ko graduated from Korea Maritime University in Busan, and was commissioned as a maritime police officer in 2002.

In 2003, she worked aboard a patrol ship for the first time as a policewoman.

Ko started her career as an assistant inspector, two ranks higher than the lowest one, and got fast three-rank promotions to superintendent in 11 years.

Her current rank is the highest for a Coast Guard policewoman.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)