North Korea announces plans to build third navy destroyer
The announcement on Tuesday comes after North Korea launched its first 5,000-tonne destroyer-class naval ship, the Choe Hyon, in April.
A second ship, the Kang Kon, capsized at its launch ceremony in May. It was subsequently repaired and set afloat the following month.
North Korea's naval ambitions
Workers at the Nampho Shipyard attended a rally where they pledged to construct the new ship by October 10, 2026 – the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
The head of the shipyard urged workers to meet this deadline to uphold the party's 'plan for building a powerful army' and 'to firmly defend the inviolable maritime sovereignty and national interests', the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
'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,' North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said back in June.
Tuesday's announcement comes as South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung adopts a more dovish stance towards the north compared to his impeached predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol.
DW
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