Three detained and blamed for North Korean warship accident

Japan Times

25-05-2025

North Korea said Sunday that three people had been detained over an accident involving one of the country's newest destroyers last week — an incident that was seen as a public embarrassment to strongman Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang said last week that a 'serious accident' took place as Kim attended a launching ceremony at the shipyard in Chongjin on the country's eastern coast that saw 'sections of the warship's bottom crushed.'
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said that an investigation into the accident — which Kim earlier labeled an intolerable "criminal act" — 'is being intensified.' Analysts said the incident likely occurred in front of a large crowd, dealing Kim a rare public humiliation.
The KCNA report said the detained were Kang Jong Chol, the chief engineer at the Chongjin shipyard, Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop, and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs. It said the three were "responsible for the accident." Shipyard manager Hong Kil Ho had been earlier questioned by law enforcement.
One contributing factor to the accident may have been the shipyard itself, analysts said, calling the choice to undertake construction of the warship there 'unusual.'
'The shipyard has previously primarily produced cargo vessels, fishing vessels and dredgers and undoubtedly lacks significant expertise in manufacturing and launching large warships such as the new destroyer,' experts wrote in an analysis for the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) Beyond Parallel website.
The ultimate fate of the three who appeared to take the blame for the accident remains unclear, but Kim has a history of making examples out of those who fall short of his expectations or embarrass him — including the 2013 execution of his once-powerful uncle.
The South Korean military said last week that it believed the failure to have occurred after an attempt to 'side-launch' the vessel had failed, leaving the ship lying on its side. Commercial satellite imagery taken Thursday confirmed that the ship was on its side.
Sunday's KCNA report emphasized that 'there is no additional identified damage to the warship,' after an earlier inspection said the extent of the damage was 'not serious.' That inspection found no holes in the vessel's bottom, but discovered the starboard hull had been scratched and seawater had flowed into the stern section through the rescue channel.
The North was 'pushing ahead with the rehabilitation plan as scheduled,' KCNA said Sunday.
Analysts were not as sanguine.
'The failed launch is an embarrassment to Kim Jong Un and North Korea's Korean People's Navy (KPN). The (destroyer) will not be entering service anytime soon and may ultimately prove to be a complete loss,' the CSIS experts wrote.
'This failure has undoubtedly disrupted Kim's planned timeline for the development of the KPN from a coastal defense force into a nascent blue-water force capable of strategic offensive operations,' it added, referring to the North Korean leader's goal of equipping his naval forces with nuclear-tipped arms.
Pyongyang has hinted that it is equipping its new destroyers with nuclear-capable weapons, including a 'supersonic cruise missile,' 'strategic cruise missile' and 'tactical ballistic missile.'
North Korea often uses the term 'strategic' to refer to weapons that are nuclear capable, while 'tactical' can refer to missiles that can be fitted with lower-yield battlefield nuclear bombs or conventional warheads.
The push is part of a five-year military buildup plan Kim announced in 2021.
The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said in a report released Friday that Kim 'is increasingly confident in his international political legitimacy and regime security' thanks to his focus on advanced missiles and nuclear weapons.
'North Korea is in its strongest strategic position in decades, possessing the military means to hold at risk U.S. forces and U.S. allies in Northeast Asia, while continuing to improve its capability to threaten the U.S. Homeland,' the report said.