It comes as Japan’s defence minister warned North Korea’s threat has grown to a “critical and imminent level”.
The South’s navy will receive the first of its new 230-ton patrol medium rocket (PKMR) ships later today before being deployed to front-line waters near the Northern Limit Line with North Korea early next year.
The warship, which can travel at speeds of up to 75 kph, is armed with 130-mm guided rockets and a 76-mm cannon, according to the South’s Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
Kim Sang-hee, head of the DAPA’s high-speed boat project team said: ”Armed with domestically developed combat systems and state-of-the-art weapons including 130-mm guided rockets, the ship’s combat capability has been strengthened significantly compared with that of the Chamsuri-class ones.”
The PKMR-211 is the first of the Gumdoksuri (Golden Eagle) class ships to replace the 170-ton Chamsuri (Sea Eagle) class vessels.
The news comes as the former US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger claimed South Korea and Japan want to increase their nuclear weapons arsenal to match North Korea.
Mr Kissinger, who served as a nuclear strategist during the Cold War, added he has little doubt about where things are headed amid fears the world is on the brink of war.
He said: “If North Korea continues to have nuclear weapons… nuclear weapons must spread in the rest of Asia.
“It cannot be that North Korea is the only Korean country in the world that has nuclear weapons, without the South Koreans trying to match it. Nor can it be that Japan will sit there.”
South Korea has been ramping up is missile defences and weapons arsenal in response to threats from its despotic northern neighbour.
In August, following North Korea’s launch of two intercontinental ballistic missiles, South Korea appealed to the US to raise the limit of its missile power.
At the time, Pentagon spokesman US Navy Captain Jeff Davis said: “There is currently a limit on the warhead size and missiles that South Korea can have and yes, it is a topic under active consideration here.
“I would tell you that we would be favourably inclined to do anything which furthers the defence capabilities of South Korea and we certainly have seen our alliance change and adapt over time before.”
And US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday vowed that America will never accepted a nuclear North Korea as he threatened possible military action.
He said: ”Make no mistake – any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated.
“And any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming.