On Tuesday, the Republic of Korea Navy’s first submarine, ROKS Jang Bogo, is docked at Jinhae Naval Base ahead of its final voyage the next day. (Republic of Korea Navy)
On Tuesday, the Republic of Korea Navy’s first submarine, ROKS Jang Bogo, is docked at Jinhae Naval Base ahead of its final voyage the next day. (Republic of Korea Navy)

The ROKS Jang Bogo, South Korea's first naval submarine, will retire at the end of the year after 34 years in service, the Navy said Wednesday.

To mark the milestone, the 1,200-ton submarine will embark on a farewell cruise from a naval port in the southeastern city of Jinhae later Wednesday, carrying both the first and last captains of the vessel aboard, according to the armed service.

The submarine was launched at a HDW shipyard in Germany in 1991 and was acquired by the South Korean Navy the following year.

Named after a legendary ninth-century maritime explorer and trader from the Unified Silla Kingdom, the ROKS Jang Bogo has sailed about 633,000 kilometers in total since 1992, a distance equivalent to circling the globe 15 times.

As the country's first naval submarine, the vessel took part in major submarine warfare drills, such as the South Korea-US Silent Shark exercise and the multinational Pacific Reach submarine rescue exercise.

Since last year, the Navy has used the submarine mostly for training crew members and conducting maintenance workshops.

As part of efforts to strengthen its maritime capabilities, the Navy recently launched the first of three 3,600-ton homegrown naval attack submarines that is set to be delivered at the end of 2027. It has already commissioned 3,000-ton submarines for active service. (Yonhap)