By Kang Hyun-kyung

South Korea's participation in the international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia could strengthen its deterrence against provocations from North Korea, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.

"(S)uccessful counter-piracy operations, especially (rescuing the crew of the) Samho Jewelry, may have helped to send a deterrence message to the pirates and North Korea," Terence Roehrig, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, told The Korea Times.

Roehrig, who co-authored a newly released book, titled "Global Korea: South Korea's Contributions to International Security," said the operation also allowed "the navy and the Lee Myung-bak administration to redeem its reputation in the wake of the Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyeongdo skirmish."

Roehrig and other authors of the new book looked at the benefits of South Korea's active role in international peacekeeping, anti-piracy and other security initiatives.

Scott Bruce, a project manager for the Partnership for Nuclear Security at CRDF Global, John Hemmings, a non-resident fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS, Balbina Hwang, a visiting professor at Georgetown University, and Scott Snyder, a senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, also contributed to the book.

Under an operation codenamed "Gulf of Aden Daybreak," South Korean special forces successfully rescued 21 sailors aboard the 10,000-ton vessel Samho Jewelry, in January last year.

The ship and the crew were kidnapped by 21 Somali pirates about a week ago while sailing the Arabian Sea en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates.

Roehrig said deterrence against North Korea is one of the benefits that the South has enjoyed after it joined the anti-piracy operations in 2009 by sending the Cheonghae unit.

Together with South Korea's other international security initiatives, Roehrig said, the anti-piracy operation "has elevated South Korea's status and reputation in the international community."

Quoting one analyst, he observed, the rescue operation of the Samho Jewelry has left a strong impression on countries in the region that "South Korea is not a paper tiger on the piracy issue and is willing and able to use hard power to protect its nationals and property."

The National Assembly approved the first deployment of South Korean naval forces to join the global anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden in March 2009.

Approximately 29 percent of South Korea's maritime commerce traverses the seas off Somalia and an estimated 500 South Korean ships pass through the Gulf of Aden annually. Among them, approximately 150 of these ships are highly vulnerable to pirate attacks because of their low speed.

The deployment of the Cheonghae unit for the global anti-piracy operation came against this backdrop. The unit conducts weekly convoys for South Korean ships traveling through the Gulf of Aden and participates in other Combined Task Force operations.

The warship can only escort 13 percent of South Korean vessels passing through the region, leaving the remaining other ships vulnerable to pirate attacks.