North Korean dockworkers arrested after landmark warship capsizes
North Korea arrested three shipyard officials after a flagship new navy destroyer capsized in front of leader Kim Jong-un.
State media said authorities detained the chief engineer at Chongjin shipyard, the head of its hull-construction workshop and a deputy manager.
The arrests have raised concerns that the officials could face execution given the regime's history of severe punishment for public failures.
The news followed Wednesday's failed launch at the north-eastern port that Mr Kim witnessed the 5,000-ton warship on its side.
The destroyer lost balance as engineers tried pushing it sideways into water.
Satellite images show the vessel's stern submerged while its bow remained on the launch ramp, covered by blue tarpaulins. New surveillance images on Sunday showed a salvage operation underway.
Mr Kim called the failure a 'criminal act' and promised punishment.
He said on Thursday the accident was caused by 'absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism'.
Mr Kim added that those who made 'irresponsible errors' would be dealt with at a plenary meeting next month.
His Central Military Commission said the accident was 'unpardonable' and would prompt action against lax attitudes.
The incident contrasts with North Korea's successful destroyer launch in April at Nampo port, where engineers used a dry dock method instead of sideways launching.
Analysts say Chongjin shipyard was probably not prepared for launching destroyers, the largest warships North Korea has built.
The shipyard mainly builds cargo ships, fishing boats, and dredgers, and probably lacks the experience needed to build and launch large warships.
Launching large ships sideways requires precise balancing, and North Korea had never used this method for warships before.
Heavy weapons on the destroyer may have complicated the process.
South Korean analysts suggested pressure from Kim to replicate April's success may have led engineers to cut corners.
North Korea initially reported the accident tore holes in the hull but later said inspection revealed only scratches despite seawater entering the vessel.
Officials estimated several days to restore balance by pumping out water, plus 10 days for repairs.
Mr Kim ordered restoration before a June ruling party meeting.
The launch was intended as an elaborate ceremony highlighting Mr Kim's naval modernisation efforts before what appeared to be a large crowd.
Defence ministry officials vowed to 'thoroughly contain and control all sorts of military threats from enemy countries.'
North Korea has historically executed officials over major failures.
In July last year, South Korean intelligence reported possible executions of at least 30 North Korean officials after devastating floods that killed up to 1,500 people.
Analysts say the destroyer incident marks another embarrassing moment for Mr Kim, who has sought to show military strength in modernising North Korea's ageing fleet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
South Korea stops blasting K-Pop and propaganda at North
South Korea's military has been ordered to stop playing K-Pop music and political propaganda through loudspeakers in the direction of North Korea. Seoul suspended the broadcasts along its demilitarised border on Wednesday morning as part of attempts by its new Left-wing government to cool tensions with its neighbour. A spokesman for South Korea's defence ministry said: 'The decision was made as part of efforts to carry out the promise of restoring inter-Korean trust and peace on the Korean Peninsula.' The two countries are technically still at war because no formal peace treaty was ever signed to officially end the Korean War, despite a ceasefire in 1953. Lee Jae-myung, who was elected South Korea's new president last week, has vowed to restart talks with Pyongyang, which had considered the broadcasts to be an act of war and previously threatened to blow the loudspeakers up. Mr Lee said in his inaugural speech that he would 'open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and co-operation'. The broadcasts, which have been running on and off since the 1960s, had included a wide range of music and messages, from pop songs to more sensitive segments on democracy and capitalism. North Korea has also played broadcasts over the border, including messages condemning South Korea and its allies, but these have tended to be harder to hear because of the poor quality of the speakers used. The broadcasts on the South Korean side were paused in 2018 after the North sent balloons filled with waste paper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts and manure over the border. They resumed in July last year. A couple of weeks after they restarted, a new rubbish-filled balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound, prompting questions about the security of the country's key facilities. Information wars The balloons had been sent in retaliation for propaganda drops by South Korea over the years, which have included USB sticks of television dramas and leaflets criticising the North Korean regime. Earlier this week, South Korea's ministry of unification also called for the end of the leaflet campaigns. However, it comes amid efforts by Pyongyang in recent years to bolster its information war and restrict outside information. The regime passed a law in 2020 which increased the punishment for anyone caught consuming or sharing foreign media, with unverified reports that some individuals had even been executed. In 2023, Pyongyang also outlawed common South Korean phrases and made it illegal to speak in a South Korean accent. Mr Lee's overtures to the North are a departure from the more hard-line approach of his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr Yoon, who was impeached following a short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024, had ended engagement with Pyongyang and threatened to destroy the regime if it ever deployed nuclear weapons. North Korea has yet to comment on the loudspeakers announcement, though it has previously rejected efforts from both Seoul and the United States to resume engagement.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
South Korea stops blasting anti-North Korea propaganda along border
South Korea 's military has ceased its loudspeaker broadcasts of anti- North Korea propaganda along the inter- Korean border, signalling a move towards easing tensions between the two nations. The broadcasts, which had been resumed in June of the previous year after a prolonged pause, were a response to North Korea's psychological warfare campaign involving trash-filled balloons sent into South Korean territory. According to South Korea's Defense Ministry, this decision reflects efforts to "restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula." North Korea has yet to respond to Seoul 's initiative. The move follows a period of heightened tensions, during which North Korea launched approximately 7,000 balloons carrying items such as wastepaper, cloth scraps, cigarette butts, and manure into South Korea between May and November of the previous year. North Korea stated that its balloon campaign was a reaction to South Korean activists sending balloons filled with anti-North Korean leaflets and USB sticks containing South Korean songs and dramas. Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said that the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt. South Korea, in response to the North Korean balloons, reactivated its front-line loudspeakers to blast propaganda messages and K-pop songs toward the North. The playlist was clearly designed to strike the nerve of Pyongyang, as Kim's government since the COVID-19 pandemic has been intensifying a campaign to eliminate the influence of South Korean pop culture and language among the population in a bid to strengthen his family's dynastic rule. The Cold War-style psychological warfare campaigns added to tensions fueled by North Korea's growing nuclear ambitions and South Korean efforts to expand joint military exercises with the United States and strengthen three-way security cooperation with Japan. South Korea's new liberal president, Lee Jae-myung, who took office last week after winning an early election to replace ousted conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to improve relations with Pyongyang, which reacted furiously to Yoon's hard-line policies and shunned dialogue. During the election campaign, Lee promised to halt the loudspeaker broadcasts, arguing that they created unnecessary tensions and discomfort for South Korean residents in border towns. In recent months, those residents had complained about North Korea's retaliatory broadcasts, which included howling animals, pounding gongs and other irritating sounds. In a briefing on Monday, South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also called for South Korean civilian activists to stop flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border. Such activities 'could heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula and threaten the lives and safety of residents in border areas,' said Koo Byoungsam, the ministry's spokesperson. In his inaugural address last week, Lee vowed to reopen communication channels with North Korea to ease tensions. But prospects for an early resumption of dialogue between the rival Koreas remain dim, as North Korea has consistently rejected offers from South Korea and the United States since 2019, when nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang collapsed over sanctions-related disagreements. North Korea's priority in foreign policy is now firmly with Russia, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large amounts of military equipment in recent months for its war with Ukraine. Yoon, who was removed from office in April over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, had focused on strengthening military partnerships with Washington and Tokyo and on securing stronger US assurances of a swift and decisive nuclear response to defend the South against a North Korean attack. In a fierce reaction to Yoon's policies, Kim in January 2024 declared that he was abandoning the long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with the South and instructed the rewriting of the North's constitution to cement the South as a permanent 'principal enemy.'
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
South Korea turns off propaganda loudspeakers to North Korea
South Korea's military says it has suspended its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border to North Korea, as part of a bid to "restore trust" between both countries. The move comes a week after the country elected its new president Lee Jae-myung, who had campaigned on improving inter-Korean ties. Pyongyang considers the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts an act of war and has threatened to blow them up in the were previously been paused for six years but resumed in June last year in response to Pyongyang's campaign of sending rubbish-filled balloons across the border to the South. In recent years, the broadcasts have included news from both Koreas and abroad as well as information on democracy and life in the between North and South Korea had deteriorated under previous president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was more hawkish towards Pyongyang. Yoon was impeached and removed from his post for briefly placing South Korea under martial law in December, citing supposed threats from anti-state forces and North Korea successor, Lee, had campaigned on a series of pledges, including one to restart dialogue with Pyongyang and to reduce tensions between both countries. The move aims to "restore trust in inter-Korean relations and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula", the military said in a to a report by the Yonhap news agency, the military's decision also took into account the fact that the North has no longer been sending rubbish-filled balloons across the by suspending instead of terminating the broadcasts, the military is signalling that the speakers could be fired up again if needed, adds claims the broadcasts can be heard as much as 10km (6.2 miles) across the border in the day and up to 24km (15 miles) at suspension comes almost exactly a year after they were first resumed in June 2024 - when both countries had engaged in various retaliatory campaigns involving rubbish and propaganda balloons. Reuniting with the South had always been a key, if increasingly unrealistic, part of the North's ideology since the inception of the state - until Kim abandoned the idea earlier last countries are technically still at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.
