**South Korea launches $1 billion advanced destroyer **
Saturday, May 26, 2007
SEOUL: South Korea on Friday launched a destroyer, its first with an advanced weapons system for shooting down enemy missiles and aircraft, in a move to strengthen its defences amid an arms build-up in the region.
The destroyer named King Sejong was built in Ulsan at a cost of about 1 trillion won ($1.07 billion) and will be the country’s most advanced ship to counter a possible attack from North Korea, which has hundreds of ballistic missiles. The ship, with the high-tech Aegis weapons system, can carry 16 ship-to-ship missiles, 128 ship-to-air missiles as well as cruise missiles and torpedoes, the Defence Ministry said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and several top navy officials, decked out in white dress uniforms, attended the launch at Ulsan on the east coast. South Korea plans to launch two more Aegis-equipped destroyers by 2013, a ministry official said.
The system, first developed for the US military, integrates radar and targeting systems to allow a ship to strike at targets on land, in the air and at sea simultaneously. reuters
Anyone know whether the Koreans have made this all by themselves or was it some sort of a joint project?