The Navy will hold a change-of-command ceremony for Col. Bae Seon-yeong aboard the amphibious assault ship ROKS Dokdo (LPH, 14,500 tons) on Wednesday. [Navy photo]
The Navy will hold a change-of-command ceremony for Col. Bae Seon-yeong aboard the amphibious assault ship ROKS Dokdo (LPH, 14,500 tons) on Wednesday. [Navy photo]

South Korea's Navy has appointed its first female commanding officer of a colonel-grade warship — the highest-ranking ship command in the service.

Col. Bae Seon-yeong will take command of the amphibious assault ship ROKS Dokdo (LPH, 14,500 tons) on Wednesday. The Navy announced the appointment Tuesday.

Bae entered the Naval Academy in 1999 as part of the 57th class — the first year the academy admitted female cadets — and was commissioned in 2003.

She built her operational credentials across a series of key assignments, including operations officer at the 11th Flotilla of the First Fleet, commanding officer of patrol boat Chamsuri-282, deck officer aboard Dokdo, operations officer on the corvette ROKS Namwon, and executive officer of the minelayer ROKS Wonsan.

In December 2020, then-Lt. Col. Bae became the first woman in the Navy to command a minelayer when she took the helm of ROKS Wonsan as its 21st commanding officer.

At the same ceremony, Lt. Col. Hong Yu-jin took command of the corvette ROKS Wonju, and the two were recognized as the first female lieutenant colonel-level combat ship commanders since women officers began serving aboard Navy and Marine Corps vessels in 2001.

At the time of her Wonsan appointment, Bae said she was "honored to take on the role of commanding officer, a dream I have held since my days as a cadet," adding that she would "build a Wonsan that is always ready." About six years after that command, she has been promoted to colonel and takes the helm of Dokdo, setting another milestone as the first woman to do so.

Bae served as director of maritime operations at the Combined Naval Forces Component Command during this year's Rim of the Pacific exercise, which drew combined forces from 30 countries. Navy Rear Adm. Kim In-ho, commander of the Fleet Mobility Force, served as Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander — making South Korea the first Asian nation and only the fourth non-American country ever to hold that post.

In that role, Bae was a key member of the command staff, integrating and coordinating multinational maritime operations.

Commissioned in 2007, Dokdo is the Navy's largest warship. It carries helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles to support Marine Corps landing operations and is considered a core asset of the fleet.

Since the Navy commissioned its first female officers in 2001, the number of women in uniform has grown to more than 2,800 officers and non-commissioned officers.

Women are taking on an expanding share of roles across ships, aircraft and submarines — including ship commanders, maritime operations helicopter and patrol aircraft pilots, submarine crew members, and deep-sea divers. Female commanding officers have already emerged from corvettes, minelayers and landing ships. The appointment of a woman to command a large colonel-grade warship is a first for the Navy.

"I feel immense honor and a profound sense of responsibility in taking on the important role of commanding officer of a large amphibious assault ship of the Republic of Korea Navy," Bae said. "Rather than focusing on the symbolic significance of being the first female commanding officer of a colonel-grade warship, I will build a Dokdo that can perfectly accomplish any mission, whenever and whatever it may be."


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