North Korea unveils new 5,000-tonne destroyer with 'most powerful weapons'
Photo: New North Korean destroyer (KCNA)
On Saturday, North Korea launched a "new multipurpose destroyer." North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony, Reuters reports.
State-run media, referring to the secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, Jo Chun Ryong, stated that the 5,000-tonne warship was equipped with the "most powerful weapons." It was built "within 400-odd days perfectly with our own strength and technology."
In his speech at the ceremony, Kim announced that the warship would be handed over to the Navy and would be operational by early 2026. He also issued a warning to the United States.
"If the United States continues to renew its record in the protests of military power, we will have no choice but to renew it in the exercise of strategic deterrence," Kim Jong Un declared.
Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony
Vice-Admiral Pak Kwang Sop stated that the ship's launch, which took place Friday at the military shipbuilding yard in Nampo, marked a new era of "great Kim Jong Un-style fleet building."
Media outlets report that the vessel was classified as a "Choe Hyon-class" ship, named after the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon.
Kim also stated that powerful preemptive strike capabilities are the most "convincing war deterrent" and emphasized that there are no limits to the scale of such attacks.
"The security environment of our country is very serious right now," he said, pledging to build a fleet for operations on the open sea.
As a reminder, last month, North Korea conducted its first ballistic missile launch since US President Donald Trump took office. Bloomberg reported that Pyongyang shows no signs of halting its missile tests.
