President Lee Myung-bak says that now, more than ever, the nation’s military must do all it can for global peace and security.

He made the remarks in a farewell ceremony for a naval unit dispatched to Somalia, which was held in the port city of Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

The president said the dispatch of the Cheonghae unit is in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution urging international efforts to promote safe sea routes.

Lee stressed that the lives and property of South Koreans should never be in danger, noting that over the years, three Korean ships have been hijacked by pirates in Somali waters.

The president added that the Cheonghae unit’s purpose will be to protect South Korean people in foreign waters and to contribute to global peace and security.

The government decided earlier this year to send a 45-hundred-ton destroyer to the protect vessels traveling through the Gulf of Aden --- one of the most heavily pirated sea lanes in the world. Pirates hijacked more than 40 ships in 2008 alone, netting around 100 million dollars in ransom.

The South Korean naval forces left for the Gulf of Aden off the eastern coast of the African nation Friday.