Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

The very first female naval captain and female patrol killer (PK) commander

The Korean Navy will soon be seeing its first-ever female naval captain, as well as its first-ever female patrol killer commander. The women of the hour are Lieutenant Commander Ahn Hee-hyun, (age 37, 57th naval cadet) and Lieutenant Commander Ahn Mi-young, (age37, 98th officer candidate).

The navy recently set up an officer assignment review committee, and named Lieutenant Commander Ahn Hee-hyun as captain of a minesweeper called GoryeongHam, and Lieutenant Commander Ahn Mi-young as commander of the 321 patrol killer. This dual milestone comes 16 years since the first female officer was deployed to a vessel, which was in 2001.

Lieutenant Commander Ahn Hee-hyun will be appointed as Captain of Goryeong Ham in early August, after finishing her pre-assigned education course at the chief of naval education and training from June 7 to 23.

Entering the Naval Academy in 1999, Lieutenant Commander Ahn Hee-hyun was commissioned in 2003. Through experiences in various positions such as navigator of a salvage and rescue ship, operating officer of a patrol frigate and second-in-command of a landing ship, she built up the expertise and experience needed to be a captain.

She said, “While I take great pride in being the first Korean female captain, I can feel the burden of its heavy responsibilities. I will try to do my best to ensure that the unit completes all the assigned missions and wins in any combat situation, following the principle that we won’t be afraid even though it is our first time.”

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander Ahn Mi-young was selected as the first female commander of a patrol killer. Commissioned as the 98th naval cadet in 2003, she has been through several positions such as warfare system assistant of a destroyer, commanding officer of patrol killer and intelligence and operations staff at the Busan Base Squadron.

After finishing the pre-assigned education course for commander ranking in early July, she will assume her duties as the commander of 321 patrol killer (PK) in mid-July. The ship is part of the 3rd Fleet, which is deployed to protect Busan’s harbors and guard the southern sea.

By Ah-Mi, Cho

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