North Korea's Kim slams officials over destroyer launch accident
KYODO NEWS - 10 hours ago - 13:09 | World, All
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has censured officials over a "serious accident" that occurred during a launch ceremony for a new destroyer on Wednesday, describing it as an intolerable "criminal act," according to the country's state-run media.
In the incident at the Chongjin Shipyard, the 5,000-ton destroyer lost balance while on a flatcar, crushing some lower sections and preventing it from leaving the shipway, the official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday.
Kim said the accident caused by "absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility" led "the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse in a moment," KCNA reported.
The leader warned the "irresponsible errors" of those responsible would have to be dealt with at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, to be convened in late June, and ordered the ship's restoration before then as well as an investigation into the matter.
He stressed the immediate repair of the destroyer was "not merely a practical issue but a political issue directly related to the authority of the state."
According to the South Korean military, the destroyer remains partially capsized.
In late April, Kim attended a ceremony for the launch of another new 5,000-ton destroyer at a shipyard in the western port city of Nampho and lauded the event as a "breakthrough in modernization" of the navy.
The multipurpose warship Choe Hyon, named after an anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter, is equipped with systems to launch supersonic cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles. Kim said it will be deployed by the navy sometime next year, according to KCNA.
Related coverage:
North Korea's Kim guides missile test for nuclear counterattack
North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles, no damage reported
North Korea test-fires new destroyer's weapons system
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