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Agence France-Presse

Park Chan-kyong

A major accident occurred at a launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer, state media reported on Thursday, with leader Kim Jong-un saying the mishap was a “criminal act”.
At a ceremony to launch a new 5,000-tonne destroyer in the eastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday “a serious accident occurred”, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Blaming “inexperienced command and operational carelessness” during the launch, which was being observed by Kim, KCNA said there was a mishap which left “some sections of the warship’s bottom crushed”.
It said the accident managed to “destroy the balance of the warship”.
Kim watched the entire incident and declared it a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness”, warning it “could not be tolerated”.
He said the “irresponsible errors” of officials responsible would be “dealt with at the plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee to be convened next month”.
Kim also ordered officials to fully restore the warship before the meeting, calling the task a “political mission directly linked to the authority of the state”.
Professor Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said the incident occurred as Pyongyang was rushing to complete its five-year military build-up programme.
“Kim Jong-un is furious about this accident, which unfolded right before his eyes during Wednesday’s launch ceremony. It’s a serious blow to his personal prestige,” Yang told This Week in Asia.
“The five-year defence build-up programme has lost its shine in an instant,” he said.
Yang added that some of the officials responsible for the botched launch “may face execution”, while others are likely to be spared to oversee repairs and relaunch the vessel.


The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States had been monitoring the activities in advance, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.
South Korea’s military said North Korea also fired “multiple unidentified cruise missiles” on Thursday, which were detected near the isolated nation’s South Hamgyong province after being “fired towards the East Sea”, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Pyongyang unveiled another 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel named Choe Hyon last month.
At the time, state media ran images of Kim attending a ceremony with his daughter Ju Ae, considered by many experts to be his likely successor.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Wednesday’s setback occurred because North Korea apparently launched the vessel sideways rather than stern-first.
“These two vessels can be described as North Korea’s equivalent of Aegis destroyers,” Hong said, referring to the American integrated naval weapons system.
He said Russia probably supplied “parts, materials, designs, or even all of these” for building the warships capable of a range of combat operations like anti-aircraft warfare and land-attack missions.
According to Hong, developing corrosion-resistant materials, advanced radar systems and other high-end technologies necessary for Aegis-type ships was extremely challenging.
“These warships pose a significant threat to the security of South Korea and Japan and serve as a counterbalance to the South’s naval superiority over the North,” he said.

North Korea said the Choe Hyon was equipped with the “most powerful weapons”, and that it would “enter into operation early next year”.
Some analysts said the ship could be equipped with short-range tactical nuclear missiles – although North Korea has not proven it has the ability to miniaturise its nukes.
The South Korean military also said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help – possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Kyiv.
Russia and North Korea recently announced that they had started building the first road bridge linking the two neighbours.
North Korea also launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
Experts have long warned that nuclear-armed North Korea may be testing weapons for export to Russia for use against Ukraine.


In March, Kim inspected a project to build a nuclear-powered submarine, asserting that “radically” boosting the navy was a major part of Pyongyang’s defensive strategy.
Kim called at the time for the modernisation of the country’s surface and underwater naval forces, including the development of warships.
Pyongyang has previously claimed to be developing underwater nuclear attack drones, which could unleash a “radioactive tsunami”, but analysts have questioned whether it actually has such a weapon.
Washington – Seoul’s main security ally – has in recent years ramped up joint military exercises and increased the presence of strategic US assets, such as an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the region to deter North Korea.
Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state and routinely denounces joint US-South Korea drills as rehearsals for invasion.


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Kim Jong-un visits the Choe Hyon warship at an undisclosed location in North Korea on April 29. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA


Kim inspects a nuclear submarine during a visit to a shipyard on March 8. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attend a Gala concert in Pyongyang in June 2024. Photo: TNS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, (centre) meets soldiers during a visit to a western operational training base in North Korea in March 2024. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AP

North Korea’s Kim disembarks from a train at a railway station in the town of Artyom outside Vladivostok, Russia, in 2023. Photo: Governor of Primorsky Region/EPA-EFE

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An international marathon was held in Pyongyang on April 6 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Kyodo

A group of Russian tourists arrive at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang on February 9, 2024, the first known foreign tour group to visit North Korea since the pandemic-linked border closures. Photo: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in 2019. Beijing has historically been Pyongyang’s largest trading partner. Photo:/KCNA/dpa

Farmers work in the fields outside the Sungri Chemical Factory, an oil refinery in the Rason special economic zone near North Korea’s Russian and Chinese borders. Photo: AP

Nick Bonner (left) pictured with his partner Simon Cockerell outside Pyongyang Art Studio. Photo: Benjamin Robertson

Is North Korea’s nuclear submarine a game changer or ‘vanity project’?

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un  inspects a shipbuilding project at a shipyard at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: AFP

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un looks at what is supposedly the ‘Hero Kim Kun Ok’ attack submarine at an unspecified place in 2023. Photo: AP

This Week in Asia

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East Asia

The vessel was damaged during its launch ceremony attended by Kim Jong-un, who called the incident a ‘criminal act’


The vessel was damaged during its launch ceremony attended by Kim Jong-un, who called the incident a ‘criminal act’.


Kim Jong-un