US Satellites Capture New North Korean Destroyer Under Construction
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in China with an emailed request for comment.
North Korea is moving to modernize its armed forces, including its navy-a modest fleet largely made up of aging warships and smaller fast attack craft.
The regime is also pressing forward with its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. This U.S. and its South Korean and Japanese allies have responded by stepping up joint exercises simulating a North Korean attack-activities Pyongyang condemns as "provocations."
The latest satellite photos, released on Monday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea Chair's Beyond Parallel program, show construction on the second Cho Hyon-class destroyer well underway.
Analysis of the 470-foot hull reveals what appear to be vertical launch systems for anti-ship and anti-ballistic missiles. CSIS experts said the vessel will likely be capable of firing anti-ship, anti-submarine, anti-ballistic, and anti-air missiles, in addition to tactical and land-attack missiles.
Though construction has been known since spring 2024 and was suspected to be a new destroyer, identifying features were obscured for much of that time by netting.
Notably, the warship is being built at Hambuk Shipyard in Chongjin on the northeast coast-a departure from the usual site for surface ship construction, the western port of Nampho.
The images come just weeks after the launch of the Cho Hyon, the lead ship in the destroyer class and largest surface combatant in the Korean People's Navy-constructed at the Nampho shipyard.
Kim Jong Un presided over the initial weapons test for that ship on April 28 and 29, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Kim called for the acceleration of the "nuclearization of the navy" to defend North Korea's sovereignty from current and future threats, the state-run outlet said.
In March, Pyongyang also announced the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine.
A CSIS analysis by Victor Cha, Jennifer Jun, and Joseph Bermudez Jr. stated: "Considering that the Hambuk Shipyard at Chongjin is primarily known for producing cargo and fishing vessels, the construction of the DDGHM [guided missile destroyer] here likely reflects a broader and directed effort by North Korea to expand and diversify the scale and geographical distribution of its naval production capabilities."
Kim Jong Un, North Korean supreme leader, said during the April 26 launch ceremony for the nation's first destroyer: "Today's launch of this destroyer is only the start of the project for modernizing our naval forces. However, it is a perfect demonstration of our grand ambition to build up the fighting capability of our Navy in keeping with the priority requirement for the state's security and the global trend in developing the naval forces."
Kim said the Cho Hyon would enter service in early 2026 and that construction on additional ships in the class would begin next year as well.
He also announced plans to build an even more capable warship-a cruiser-as well as "escort ships of various classes."
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