The South Korean Navy took delivery of a guided-missile destroyer Friday that will be in charge of defending the country’s shoreline and harbor waters, the procurement agency here said.

The Kim Chang-hak ship, the newest PKG-class (Patrol Killer, Guided Missile) patrol boat built by shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., was delivered to the Navy command earlier in the day, according to the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Enabled to accommodate 40 crew members, the 450-ton high-speed ship can sail at a top speed of 40 knots and is equipped with the state-of-the-art weaponry including ship-to-ship guided missiles and 76 mm guns, DAPA said.

It is also equipped with a homegrown combat system, with its body being built with stealth technology to improve its radar-evading capability, it added.

The Navy plans to put the warship into service within the first half of this year after at least a two-month test run to have it join Navy patrol missions.

The newly-launched ship was named after Sergeant Kim, who was killed after sustaining wounds in a 1950 naval clash with North Korea in the southern port city of Busan. (Yonhap)