Rapid show of rising naval power
A North Korean naval destroyer damaged in a botched launch last month was successfully set afloat on a second attempt, with leader Kim Jong-un presiding, state media said.
A ceremony for the ship baptised the Kang Kon – after a top North Korean general killed in the 1950-53 war – was held on Thursday at the Rajin shipyard, up the coast from where the botched attempt occurred, according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
'Just over two weeks since the accident, the ship was safely raised and floated, and today, as planned, complete restoration has been finished,' Kim said, according to KCNA.
Kim has also approved a plan to build two more destroyer-class vessels next year, the agency added.
The decision 'heralds a significant and dramatic change in the status and defence activities of (our) Navy,' Kim said, according to KCNA.
He claimed that the 'provocative intentions of the United States and its allies' have recently become 'more blatant, and the level of threats to our security has clearly gone far beyond the dangerous limit.'
'We must develop our naval power more comprehensively and rapidly so that the enemy cannot even think of carrying out aggressive actions in the waters around us,' the North Korean leader said.
The successful launch comes after Pyongyang last month announced 'a serious accident' when workers first tried to put the 5,000-tonne destroyer into water in the north-eastern port city of Chongjin.
The mishap crushed sections of the bottom of the newly built ship. Pyongyang later covered it with a tarpaulin, satellite images showed.
South Korean intelligence believe North Korea's so-called 'side-launch attempt' of the ship failed, and the vessel was left listing in the water.
Kim called the incident a 'criminal act caused by absolute carelessness' and state media subsequently reported the arrest of four officials in connection with the botched launch.
But the country said soon afterwards that the extent of damage to the vessel was 'not serious', and that it would take 'two or three days' to drain it, and another 10 to restore the destroyer's side.
The South Korean military estimated that, based on its size and scale, the new warship is similarly equipped to the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled in late April.
Pyongyang has said the Choe Hyon is 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 missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads – although North Korea has not proven it has the ability to miniaturise its atomic arsenal.
Seoul's military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help, possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight in Ukraine.
North Korea confirmed in April for the first time that it had deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow in the Ukraine war. — AFP
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