On Saturday 1 February 2014, Ukrainian Navy frigate, Hetman Sagaidachniy, which is currently operating with the EU Naval Force off the coast of Somalia, conducted a joint exercise with the South Korean Navy warship, ROKS Choi Young in the Gulf of Aden.

The ships began the exercise by carrying out a series of tactical manoeuvres at sea, followed by counter-piracy training with both the Korean and Ukrainian Navy boarding teams.

On completion of the exercise, the Commander of the Ukranian Contingent, Rear-Admiral Andrii Tarasov and the Commanding Officer of UKRS Hetman Sagaidachniy, Commander Roman Piatnitskiy, together with other representatives from the Ukrainian warship, were welcomed on board ROKS Choi Young by the Commanding Officer, Captain Choi Sung-Mok.

This was the first time in the history of the Ukrainian Navy that they have conducted an exercise with the South Korean Navy.

The primary goal of the exercise was to help strengthen maritime security and the protection of navigation. It was also an opportunity to establish coordination between the naval ships and enhance cooperation between the Ukrainian and South Korean Armed Forces.