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Kim tests missile from new destroyer as North Korea draws lessons from Iran conflict
Experts say the US strikes on Iran are sharpening Pyongyang’s resolve to diversify nuclear-capable forces, including new naval platforms
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a newly built destroyer and oversaw a test launch of what state media called a “strategic cruise missile” this week, casting the navy’s build-up as a key part of Pyongyang’s evolving nuclear deterrent, analysts said.
The two-day inspection of the 5,000-tonne destroyer Choe Hyon came as North Korea was closely watching recent US military strikes on Iran and ahead of US-South Korea joint exercises set to begin on March 9.
Kim hailed the warship as a “new symbol of sea-defence capability” after it completed a shakedown cruise – its first series of sea trials – on Tuesday, and vowed to build “the most powerful navy” as North Korea expands its nuclear-capable platforms across both surface vessels and submarines.
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“Our Navy’s forces for attacking from under and above water will grow rapidly. The arming of the Navy with nuclear weapons is making satisfactory progress,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“If any force harbours doubts about our strengthening of defensive power, that itself means they will soon become our enemy,” Kim was quoted as saying by the ruling party’s daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
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