ROKS Cheongju (FF-961)

ROKS Cheongju (FF-961) is the ninth ship of the Ulsan-class frigate in the Republic of Korea Navy. She is named after the city, Cheongju.

Development
In the early 1990s, the Korean government plan for the construction of next generation coastal ships named Frigate 2000 was scrapped due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. But the decommissioning of the Gearing-class destroyer destroyers and the aging fleet of Ulsan-class frigates, the plan was revived as the Future Frigate eXperimental, also known as FFX in the early 2000s.

10 ships were launched and commissioned from 1980 to 1993. They have 3 different variants which consists of Flight I, Flight II and Flight III.

Construction and career
ROKS Cheongju was launched on 20 March 1992 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and commissioned on 1 June 1993.