South Korea has begun testing its new naval base on the southern island of Jeju as its construction is near completion, the Navy said Wednesday.

"The Aegis combat system-equipped DDG destroyer, the Sejong the Great, entered the Jeju civil-military combined port for a safety check of the port and pier facilities," the Navy said.

It is the first time a Navy warship has docked at the base, of which construction is about 89 percent complete as of Wednesday, according to the Navy.

The 37,000-ton warship can accommodate a crew of 300 and is equipped with 5-inch guns, guided ship-to-ship missiles as well as long-range anti-submarine torpedos.

With the entry of the first warship Wednesday, the Navy plans to send 21 kinds of Navy vessels to the port by mid-October as part of the testing.

The vessels will engage in trials of port entry, departure and mooring to test the safety of the port, which is set to be completed by the end of this year.

The Navy is building the naval base, which is capable of accommodating 20 combat ships and two cruise vessels, on the southern tip of Jeju Island, a strategically and economically important sea point leading to the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea.

The construction has drawn wild protests from environmentalists and local residents, which caused the Navy to begin construction in 2012, years later than the initially-scheduled start of 2007. (Yonhap)