The South Korean Navy dispatched its guided-missile vessel to the country's western sea border on Tuesday in a bid to bolster its defense against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the navy said.

The Yun Young Ha, the dispatched 440-ton vessel, is equipped missiles which can fly as far away as 140 km, and loaded with guns that fire up to 600 bullets per minute, the navy said in a statement.

"The ship is symbolic of the spirit of our six fallen soldiers in the second Yeonpyeong battle," Navy Chief of Staff Jung Ok-keun was quoted as saying by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

The two Koreas had clashes near the border island of Yeonpyeongin 1999 and 2002, resulting in the deaths of dozens of soldiers on both sides.

The deployment comes amid heightened tension in the Yellow Sea, the two nations' western sea, after the DPRK announced to scrap the 1950-53 Korean War truce and threatened the safety of South Korean and the U.S. naval vessels near South Korea's Northern Limit Line.

Source: Xinhua