North Korea relaunches warship that suffered embarrassing failure during initial launch
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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
India celebrates clean energy milestone but coal still king
Non-fossil fuels now account for half of India's installed energy capacity -- years ahead of schedule -- but the third-largest greenhouse gas polluter remains deeply reliant on coal for electricity generation. "A landmark in India's energy transition journey," Minister of Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi proclaimed after the world's most populous nation released figures in July. "Five years early," he added, referring to India's 2030 target under the Paris Agreement, and marking a step to the country's stated goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070. But while the 50 percent milestone is significant, climate expert Avantika Goswami says the figures -- which refer only to potential energy production -- tell just part of the story. "Overall, actual generation from renewable sources is still quite low," Goswami told AFP from the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The reason is stark: nearly three-quarters of electricity continues to come from heavily polluting coal-burning power plants. - Coal paradox - The challenge becomes even more apparent when examining India's continued dependence on coal. Far from decreasing its usage, the globe's second-largest consumer of coal pushed up production of the dirty fossil fuel by five percent last year, mining one billion tonnes, according to the coal ministry. "Coal remains crucial," the ministry said. The stance highlights the practical challenges of India's energy transition. Coal is needed to fulfil power demands while storage capacity lags behind the surge in renewable sources of power. "The coal sector remains a crucial contributor to India's energy mix, powering over 74 percent of the country's electricity and sustaining key industries like steel and cement," the coal ministry said, celebrating what it dubbed "India's coal boom". This reliance places India in a challenging position globally. The country ranks behind only China and the United States for carbon emissions overall. But analysts point out that in a country of 1.4 billion people, per capita emissions are only one-third of the global average, according to official figures. "Looking at India's per capita emissions, the effort it is making, India is doing pretty well," said activist Harjeet Singh, head of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation. India has set itself the daunting challenge of reducing emissions by 45 percent by 2030. At the same time, electricity needs are expected to more than double by 2047, according to the country's Center for Science and Environment. Supplying some of that demand "is likely to be met by the addition of renewables", Goswami said. - 'Waste that energy' - Half of India's 484.8 GW installed capacity is from non-fossil fuel sources. The majority comes from solar, totalling 119 GW -- the third-largest level globally. India is building one of the world's largest solar and wind energy farms, spread over a desert the size of Singapore. It is followed by hydro and wind, and also nuclear power -- which makes up less than two percent of the total mix. But solar and wind create steady power only when the conditions are right, and India's storage capacity is a meagre 505 MWh -- far lower than it can generate. The storage bottleneck was not lost on the renewable energy minister. Speaking at the inauguration of a battery storage systems plant in June, Joshi said India's renewable energy potential was "growing fast" and "adding 25–30 GW every year". He added: "But without storage, we will either waste that energy or fall back on coal when renewables dip." Building storage based on batteries requires rare earth metals, with rival and neighbour China controlling 70 percent of the world's supplies. "We still remain dependent on China," said Harjeet Singh, the climate activist. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in New Delhi for talks on Tuesday, with the supply of rare earth metals on the agenda. One solution India is considering is pump-hydro energy storage projects. When wind and solar plants produce excess energy, water is pumped into high reservoirs. That stored energy can then be released to generate power when demand surges. But Goswami believes the transition to cleaner power requires a multi-pronged approach. The transition to cleaner power must come from "emission intensity reduction" of often inefficient coal plants, combined with better integrated renewable energy in the grid that "will actually make the shift happen". pzb/abh/pjm/abs/cwl
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A soldier admits to attempted espionage in New Zealand's first spying conviction
A soldier admits to attempted espionage in New Zealand's first spying conviction WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand soldier who tried to spy for a foreign power has admitted to attempted espionage in a military court. Monday's conviction was the first for spying in New Zealand's history. The soldier's name was suppressed, as was what country he sought to pass secrets to. Military court documents said the man believed he was engaged with a foreign agent in 2019 when he tried to communicate military information including base telephone directories and maps, assessments of security weaknesses, his own identity card and log-in details for a military network. The wording of the charge said his actions were 'likely to prejudice the security or defense of New Zealand.' He wasn't speaking to a foreign agent, but an undercover New Zealand police officer collecting intelligence on alleged right-wing extremist groups, documents supplied by the military court showed. The soldier came to law enforcement attention as part of an operation that was established after a March 2019 terrorist attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch, when an Australian white supremacist opened fire on Muslim worshipers, killing 51. Officers spoke to the man twice about his involvement in a group, court documents showed, and after the government became aware he had expressed a desire to defect he was contacted by the undercover officer. When the soldier's hard drive was searched, investigators found a copy of Christchurch gunman Brenton Tarrant's livestreamed video of his massacre and a manifesto document he published online before the killings. Possession of either without permission is a criminal offense in New Zealand and the soldier, who admitted that charge too, joins several others convicted in New Zealand of having or sharing the terrorist's banned material. In a statement read to the court by his lawyer, the man said the two nationalist groups with which he was involved were 'no more than groups of friends with similar points of view to my own,' according to Radio New Zealand. The laywer, Steve Winter, added that his client denied supporting the Christchurch shooter's ideology, RNZ reported. The soldier — who was based at Linton Military Camp near the city of Palmerston North — also pleaded guilty to accessing a military computer system for dishonest purposes. The amended suite of three charges replaced 17 counts levelled against him earlier in the proceedings. Each of the three charges he admitted carries a maximum prison term of either seven or 10 years in New Zealand. His sentence was expected to be delivered by a military panel within days after Monday's conviction. The man had been due to stand trial by court-martial on the charges before he admitted the offenses. His was the first charge in a New Zealand military court for espionage or attempted spying. The last time such a case reached the civilian courts before was in 1975, when a public servant was acquitted on charges alleging he had passed information to Russian agents. A spokesperson for New Zealand's military said they would not comment until the proceedings against the soldier finished. Charlotte Graham-mclay, The Associated Press
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Special Report-China's growing nuclear arsenal
By David Lague HONG KONG (Reuters) -Alongside a massive build-up in conventional military firepower, China has embarked on a rapid and sustained increase in the size and capability of its nuclear forces, according to the U.S. military and arms control experts. The commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, General Anthony Cotton, told Congress in March that the directive from Chinese leader Xi Jinping that China's military be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027 was driving a build-up of nuclear weapons that could be launched from land, air and sea. In its 2023 national defense policy, China renewed its longstanding pledge that it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances. The so-called 'no first use' policy also includes a promise that China will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear armed state. In response to questions, the defense ministry in Beijing said 'a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be waged.' China, it said, adhered to a 'nuclear strategy of self-defense and pursues a no-first-use policy.' [Read the special report on Japan and South Korea's shifting nuclear policies.] In its annual report on Chinese military power, the Pentagon said despite China's public stance, its strategy probably includes a possible first use in response to conventional attacks that threaten the viability of its nuclear forces, command and control or that approximates the effect of a nuclear strike. Beijing would also probably consider nuclear first use if a conventional military defeat in Taiwan 'gravely threatened' the Communist regime's survival, the Pentagon said in the report published late last year. China's defense ministry said it opposed 'any attempt to hype up the so-called 'Chinese nuclear threat' in an effort to smear and defame China and deliberately mislead the international community.' China is expanding and modernizing its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear-armed power and has accumulated about 600 warheads, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Chicago-based non-profit. It said China is building about 350 new missile silos and several new bases for road mobile launchers. It estimated that China's military, the People's Liberation Army, had about 712 launchers for land-based missiles but not all were assigned for nuclear weapons. Of those launchers, 462 can be loaded with missiles 'that can reach the continental United States,' it said. Many of the PLA's launchers are for shorter range missiles intended to attack regional targets but most of those were not assigned for a nuclear strike, the Bulletin's assessment said. In its report, the Pentagon estimated that the PLA would have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, as it seeks to build a bigger force ranging from low-yield precision strike missiles to intercontinental ballistic missiles with multi-megaton explosive impact. Solve the daily Crossword
