of the Korea Coast Guard The Coast Guard Authority was formed on 23 December 1953 in
Pusan, at the same time a Maritime Police Unit was also established as part of the
National Police Agency. In October 1962, new bases were established in
Inchon,
Yeosu,
Po-Hang, and
Kunsan. In February 1963, the aviation unit of the KCG closed, though it reopened in the 1980s. From 1980 onwards, the KCG greatly expanded its fleet, and in August 1991, the Police Unit was renamed the Korea National Maritime Police Agency. In 2007 the Korea National Maritime Police Agency was integrated into the Coast Guard. In the early 21st century, the fleet expanded to include various vessels of over 3,000 tons, and as of January 2002, the 'Korean Coast Guard Special Operation Unit' was officially formed. In May 2008, the "Search & Rescue Maintenance Unit" was newly constructed, and as of late 2008, various sub-agencies changed infrastructural composition. Before its temporary disestablishment in 2014, the Korea Coast Guard had planned to field more vessels over 5000 tons by 2015, and to significantly expand its asymmetric warfare force through encouraging participation from other police branches.
Disestablishment On May 18, 2014, President
Park Geun-hye announced South Korea's "plans to break up its coastguard" after failing to respond well during the
MV Sewol ferry disaster. According to Park, "investigation and information roles would be transferred to the South Korea National Police while the rescue and salvage operation and ocean security roles would be transferred to the Department for National Safety, not to be confused with the Korean
Ministry of Security and Public Administration, which will be newly established". On November 7, 2014, the
National Assembly declared that the South Korean coast guard be disbanded as a result of South Korean lawmakers voting 146 to 71 in favor of transferring the Coast Guard's investigative responsibilities to the South Korea National Police Agency and establishing a broader safety agency. As a result, the South Korean Coast Guard was again under the
Ministry of Public Safety and Security.
Reestablishment Newly elected President
Moon Jae-in announced his plan to re-organise the ministries and government agencies. Following the approval of the
National Assembly, the South Korean coast guard was revived on July 26, 2017 as an independent, external agency under the
Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. ==Equipment==