North Korea relaunches 5K ton warship after embarrassing false start in May
North Korea has successfully repaired and relaunched its new 5,000-ton naval destroyer less than a month after the boat embarrassingly capsized, according to state media reports.
The Korean Central News Agency said the destroyer — the second one Pyongyang has built this year — was back in the water on Thursday.
3 Kim Jong Un brought his daughter along for the relaunch.
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
The reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reportedly at the launch, held along the country's east coast.
Kim said the new battleship stood as 'convincing proof of the rapid transformation of our Navy. … No one will doubt, I think, the rapid transformation of our Navy as they have witnessed the launching of another new-type destroyer less than two months after a similar event at the Nampho Shipyard.'
Kim repeated prior claims he would bolster North Korea's navy in response to perceived threats posed by the US and its Asian allies.
3 Kim and his daughter toured the warship on Thursday.
KCNA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
'The super-radical growth of our Navy's operations capability is now being proved by powerful entities, not by a prediction or possibility, and this has already become an unstoppable, powerful current of history,' said Kim.
The ruler of the hermit kingdom previously attributed last month's botched launch to criminal negligence. Four officials were later detained, including the vice director of the Workers' Party's munitions industry department.
3 This is the second destroyer the reclusive nation's built this year.
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Kim has been visiting military industrial factories across the country, calling on the country to ramp up production of shells in order to meet the demands of war in the 21st century.
KCNP reported Kim 'gave field guidance at a major munitions industry enterprise' on Friday, and 'learned in detail about shell production, capacity expansion and modernization projects in the first half of 2025.'
Kim 'expressed great satisfaction over the high enthusiasm for patriotic deeds and struggle displayed by the workers at the enterprise,' KCNP reported.
He further noted stepping up production would 'satisfy all the requirements of the national defence strategy and increase the output of new-type powerful shells to meet the requirements of modern warfare.'
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Fox News
13 hours ago
- Fox News
North Korea relaunches warship that suffered embarrassing failure during initial launch
North Korea has repaired and relaunched their 5,000-ton warship after a botched launch in May, according to North Korean state media. The second warship was once again upright in the water, according to the North Korean news agency KCNA. The communist country's leader, Kim Jong Un, was in attendance to give a speech and spoke about the failed launch. "Of course, we felt panic-stricken in front of the unexpected and ridiculous accident caused while launching this destroyer in Chongjin last month," Kim said. Kim did not take the accident lightly, going as far as to call it a criminal act, according to KCNA. "We judged the accident not as a simple mistake but as a never-to-be-forgiven, serious criminal act that lowered the dignity and self-respect of our state in a moment, and investigated the root cause of the accident in a comprehensive way," Kim said. In fact, the chief engineer of the Chongjin Shipyard, along with others, were arrested according KCNA. However, this setback hasn't seemed to slow down Kim's ambitions as he promised more warships to come. "Warships of a new generation are to be launched one after another in the coming years, and they will form the backbone of our maritime defense forces," Kim said. The ship, which Kim has reportedly named "Kang Kon," was moved to the Rajin shipyard after being set up right, according to the Wall Street Journal. The total extent of the damage to the ship is unknown as it never left the dry dock. Satellite images previously released by South Korea had shown the ship lying on its side. Reported previously by KCNA, the "Kang Kon" had slipped off of its ramp and became stuck. The flatcar failed to move alongside the ship, throwing it off balance and crushing parts of the ship's bottom. This caused the massive warship's stern to slide down the launch slipway, making the ship's bow section unable to leave the ramp, according to KNCA. The "Kang Kon" was the second naval destroyer launched within a month after Kim attended the successful launch of another 5,000-ton destroyer from Nampo, a port on the west coast of North Korea. Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan and Landon Mion contributed to this story.
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At the end of the parade, Trump will swear in 250 new or reenlisting troops, and the Army's Golden Knights parachute team will jump onto the Mall. That will be followed by a concert and fireworks. ____ Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Michelle L. Price, Nathan Ellgren, Lea Skene, Olivia Diaz, Joey Cappelletti, Ashraf Khalil and Tara Copp contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
New York Times
17 hours ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump's Military Parade Starts Early to Beat the Rain
Troops marching on Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River toward the Pentagon during the National Victory Celebration parade in Washington on June 8, 1991. It began with an F-117 stealth fighter flying by as thousands of U.S. troops began a 3.5-mile march from Capitol Hill. The last major military parade in the nation's capital was on June 8, 1991, just months after the end of Operation Desert Storm. It was called the National Victory Celebration, and its festivities were a celebration of American military might and technological prowess after U.S. and coalition forces had expelled the Iraqi Army from Kuwait following roughly a month of airstrikes and a 100-hour ground war. Once the wedge-shaped black jet flew down the National Mall, more than a dozen Army and Navy helicopters followed, as did an OV-10 Bronco observation plane from the Marines. 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It came just months after a lopsided victory against an enemy army in the largest U.S. military operation since Vietnam. For some politicians still feeling the aftershocks of that war in Southeast Asia, the battle in the Iraqi desert felt like vindication. 'By God, we've kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all,' President George H.W. Bush said proudly at the end of a speech to state legislators at the White House in March, shortly after the cease-fire was signed. Leading the parade was an officer whose approach to war was shaped by combat in Vietnam, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who had overseen the Gulf War from a base in Saudi Arabia, with his staff from U.S. Central Command in formation behind him. Once the general reached Mr. Bush's reviewing stand in front of the Ellipse near the White House, he split off to salute the president, who left the stand's protective bubble of ballistic glass to greet him. General Schwarzkopf then stepped into the president's stand and sat beside his boss, Gen. Colin L. Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Together, the two generals received and returned salutes from the marchers alongside their commander in chief. The parade was heavy on people and marching bands, and relatively light on hulking vehicles. Image Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, left, and President George H.W. Bush watching the 1991 military parade. Credit... Ron Edmonds/Associated Press Just three M1 Abrams tanks, two M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, two M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System vehicles, two Light Attack Vehicles, an Amphibious Assault Vehicle and four M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers accompanied them. On Saturday, however, there were plans for 28 tanks, 28 Bradleys, 28 Stryker fighting vehicles and five Paladins. Crowds were expected to be much smaller than in 1991, as the Secret Service had fenced off the parade route to all but those who consent to a security screening. The thunderstorms and rain showers predicted for late afternoon and early evening may thin the crowd even more. More than 60 warplanes flew down the Mall at various points in 1991, but just a handful of World War II-vintage planes of the former Army Air Forces will fly on Saturday. For the Desert Storm celebration, the Navy flew a dozen warplanes in three diamond formations. The Air Force flew at least one of every kind of plane that it had used over Iraq, from a B-52 bomber to cargo planes and refuelers to F-15s and A-10 attack jets. Cheers went up for the military hardware rolling or flying down the Mall, just as for the marchers. Image A banner with President Trump's portrait is displayed behind security fencing. Credit... Eric Lee Image A military aircraft on the Mall ahead of Saturday's parade for the Army's 250th birthday. Credit... Eric Lee The crowd clapped and shouted at the sight of a Patriot air-defense missile launcher and mock-ups of two Tomahawk cruise missiles, which the parade's announcer called 'a technical hero' of the war. Willard Scott, then a mainstay of morning television on the 'Today' show, told the crowd — many of whom were waving small flags — how many Tomahawks the Navy had fired during the war. There were no tall security barriers keeping the revelers locked in place, and after about an hour and 45 minutes, they began leaving as marchers carrying the flags of all U.S. states and territories came by, followed by a U.S.O. float bearing a large sign saying, 'Thank you America.' The president stayed to sing 'God Bless America' and soon made his way to the White House's South Lawn, where a Marine helicopter landed to fly him to Camp David. After some pops and puffs of smoke from a brief daylight fireworks show, one last Army band played 'The Stars and Stripes Forever.' 'Goooooood morning, Americans!' Adrian Cronauer, a former Air Force radio D.J., belted into a microphone — a play on a line made famous by Robin Williams in a 1987 movie about Mr. Cronauer's tour in Vietnam. One final flyby, and it was over. For the men and women marching to the Pentagon, they were home. But tens of thousands of troops were still in the desert, minding Iraqi prisoners of war, dodging unexploded American munitions littering the sand, and giving humanitarian aid. Around 200 U.S. service members died in the war, and tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed. For all of the celebration of the Gulf War's accomplishments, and the idea that limited war could provide lasting results, the syndrome that Mr. Bush thought he had kicked was merely in remission. Image The Lincoln Memorial in Washington is seen behind security fencing. Credit... Eric Lee His son, George W. Bush, ordered U.S. forces to war in Iraq again as president just 12 years later. That war led to a longer conflict than U.S. troops faced in Vietnam. Although America's combat mission in the country largely ended for a second time in 2011, and then transitioned into a battle against the Islamic State until 2021, U.S. forces remain in the country to support Iraqi forces attacking pockets of Islamic State fighters. There is no military victory to celebrate this time, only a 250-year milestone for the Army and a president threatening that protesters who assembled during the event would be met with 'very big force' on his birthday.
