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Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Failure to launch: Who's to blame for Kim Jong-un's dockside disaster?
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, watched the country's newest 5000-tonne destroyer capsize during its launch last week in an embarrassing military failure. Experts say a technique used to manoeuvre the ship into the water sideways was part of the problem. It was the first time analysts had observed North Korea using the sideways launch for warships and pointed to a lack of experience, as well as political pressure from Kim for quick results, for the mishap. Three shipyard officials, including the chief shipyard engineer and a senior munitions official, have been arrested, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, after Kim called the capsizing a criminal act. Satellite imagery from three days before the accident showed the 143-metre-long vessel, the biggest class of warships North Korea has ever built, on top of a launch ramp. About 40 metres from the ship, a structure that appeared to be a viewing area and likely where Kim was stationed during the incident was under construction. The destroyer was assembled in Chongjin, a port city on North Korea's north-eastern coast, which is known for producing smaller vessels, such as cargo ships and fishing boats. In a report published by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a research institute in Washington, analysts said the shipyard 'undoubtedly' lacked expertise in manufacturing and launching large warships. The ill-fated warship was assessed by analysts to be the same size and configuration as the Choe Hyon guided missile destroyer, the North's first destroyer and the most powerful surface ship the country has ever built. That vessel is the pride of Kim's ambitious plan to modernise and expand his Soviet-era naval fleet, and was the centrepiece of a grand christening ceremony last month in Nampo, a west coast port near Pyongyang. State media footage showed an elaborate event with confetti and fireworks that was attended by Kim and his daughter, Kim Ju-ae. A large viewing platform was set up near the Choe Hyun, which was already afloat in the water. That launch went smoothly, according to state media. Engineers used a technique common for large and heavy vessels. They appear to have built the Choe Hyun inside a roofed construction hall in Nampo, brought it out on a floating dry dock and then set it afloat by letting water into the dry dock, said Choi Il, a retired South Korean navy captain. 'The ship looks a bit twisted after the accident. It doesn't appear to have been built with the structural strength required for a warship.' Yang Uk, Asian Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul But the shipyard in Chongjin didn't have a dry dock large enough to build a Choe Hyun-class destroyer, nor an incline to slide the ship stern first into the water. Engineers built the ship on the quay under a netting. When it was completed, they had to launch it sideways off the platform. When properly executed, the vessel glides down the slipway lengthwise and briefly plunges into the water. Often, a tugboat is stationed nearby to assist after the launch. But when engineers tried to push the North Korean destroyer into the water, it lost its balance, state media said. Satellite imagery taken two days after the accident showed the ship covered in blue tarpaulins and lying on its right side. The bow was stuck on the ramp as the stern jutted into the harbour. The viewing platform had been removed. Launching big ships sideways requires delicate balancing work, Choi said. The heavy weapons mounted on the destroyer could have made the task even more difficult, he added. A few days after the first Choe Hyun-class destroyer was launched last month, Kim proudly watched it test-fire various missiles. He has visited shipyards to exhort engineers to meet his timetable for naval expansion and appears to have planned to launch the second destroyer with similar fanfare and weapons tests. Engineers at Chongjin, who worked with less developed facilities than their peers in Nampo, must have felt enormous pressure after the successful launch in Nampo, South Korean analysts said. That might have led them to cut corners, they said. North Korea has said that it can restore the ship's balance by pumping out the seawater. In another 10 days or so, it could repair the ship's side damaged in the accident, according to state media. But the damage looked worse than the country claimed, said Yang Uk, an expert on the North Korean military at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, South Korea. The accident may be due not only to a defective sideways launching system but also to the ship's structural imbalance, he said. 'The ship looks a bit twisted after the accident,' he said. 'It doesn't appear to have been built with the structural strength required for a warship.'
The Age
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Failure to launch: Who's to blame for Kim Jong-un's dockside disaster?
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, watched the country's newest 5000-tonne destroyer capsize during its launch last week in an embarrassing military failure. Experts say a technique used to manoeuvre the ship into the water sideways was part of the problem. It was the first time analysts had observed North Korea using the sideways launch for warships and pointed to a lack of experience, as well as political pressure from Kim for quick results, for the mishap. Three shipyard officials, including the chief shipyard engineer and a senior munitions official, have been arrested, the official Korean Central News Agency reported, after Kim called the capsizing a criminal act. Satellite imagery from three days before the accident showed the 143-metre-long vessel, the biggest class of warships North Korea has ever built, on top of a launch ramp. About 40 metres from the ship, a structure that appeared to be a viewing area and likely where Kim was stationed during the incident was under construction. The destroyer was assembled in Chongjin, a port city on North Korea's north-eastern coast, which is known for producing smaller vessels, such as cargo ships and fishing boats. In a report published by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a research institute in Washington, analysts said the shipyard 'undoubtedly' lacked expertise in manufacturing and launching large warships. The ill-fated warship was assessed by analysts to be the same size and configuration as the Choe Hyon guided missile destroyer, the North's first destroyer and the most powerful surface ship the country has ever built. That vessel is the pride of Kim's ambitious plan to modernise and expand his Soviet-era naval fleet, and was the centrepiece of a grand christening ceremony last month in Nampo, a west coast port near Pyongyang. State media footage showed an elaborate event with confetti and fireworks that was attended by Kim and his daughter, Kim Ju-ae. A large viewing platform was set up near the Choe Hyun, which was already afloat in the water. That launch went smoothly, according to state media. Engineers used a technique common for large and heavy vessels. They appear to have built the Choe Hyun inside a roofed construction hall in Nampo, brought it out on a floating dry dock and then set it afloat by letting water into the dry dock, said Choi Il, a retired South Korean navy captain. 'The ship looks a bit twisted after the accident. It doesn't appear to have been built with the structural strength required for a warship.' Yang Uk, Asian Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul But the shipyard in Chongjin didn't have a dry dock large enough to build a Choe Hyun-class destroyer, nor an incline to slide the ship stern first into the water. Engineers built the ship on the quay under a netting. When it was completed, they had to launch it sideways off the platform. When properly executed, the vessel glides down the slipway lengthwise and briefly plunges into the water. Often, a tugboat is stationed nearby to assist after the launch. But when engineers tried to push the North Korean destroyer into the water, it lost its balance, state media said. Satellite imagery taken two days after the accident showed the ship covered in blue tarpaulins and lying on its right side. The bow was stuck on the ramp as the stern jutted into the harbour. The viewing platform had been removed. Launching big ships sideways requires delicate balancing work, Choi said. The heavy weapons mounted on the destroyer could have made the task even more difficult, he added. A few days after the first Choe Hyun-class destroyer was launched last month, Kim proudly watched it test-fire various missiles. He has visited shipyards to exhort engineers to meet his timetable for naval expansion and appears to have planned to launch the second destroyer with similar fanfare and weapons tests. Engineers at Chongjin, who worked with less developed facilities than their peers in Nampo, must have felt enormous pressure after the successful launch in Nampo, South Korean analysts said. That might have led them to cut corners, they said. North Korea has said that it can restore the ship's balance by pumping out the seawater. In another 10 days or so, it could repair the ship's side damaged in the accident, according to state media. But the damage looked worse than the country claimed, said Yang Uk, an expert on the North Korean military at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, South Korea. The accident may be due not only to a defective sideways launching system but also to the ship's structural imbalance, he said. 'The ship looks a bit twisted after the accident,' he said. 'It doesn't appear to have been built with the structural strength required for a warship.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The 4 North Korean officials arrested over a botched destroyer launch are in mortal danger
North Korea has arrested four officials in connection with a botched warship launch. State media reaction to the incident signals Kim Jong Un's fury at the disaster. Experts say the officials face severe — possibly fatal — consequences. Four officials detained after a North Korean destroyer was badly damaged on the day of its ceremonial launch into the water face potentially fatal consequences at the hands of Kim Jong Un, North Korean experts told Business Insider. "I would say there's a very good chance they'd be executed," Joseph S. Bermudez, an analyst in North Korean defense at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said. One striking aspect was the speed at which state-controlled North Korean media publicized the incident that damaged its newest warship, and also named the officials. The highly public nature of the announcements suggests Kim is "very upset," Bermudez added. The arrests came within days of the botched launch of the nameless 5,000-ton destroyer, which saw the ship topple onto its side and its hull damaged. It's believed the mechanism that rolled the ship into the water malfunctioned, leaving the ship's bow stuck on the pier while its aft section lying in the water and flooded. State-run outlets announced the arrests, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the shipyard's chief engineer, the head of the hull construction workshop, and a deputy manager for administrative affairs. At the top of the list: Ri Hyong Son, a vice director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, who was also arrested. The warship was one of two next-generation Choe Hyon-class destroyers. The first, the titular Choe Hyon, launched a month ago to great fanfare at Nampo Harbor on the peninsula's western coast. However, the second was constructed at the eastern Chongjin Shipyard, which does not typically produce large warships, Bermudez told BI. Rather than launching it in drydock or from a slipway, North Korea attempted a sideways launch — something the workers may not have been well-practiced at with a larger vessel, he said. When it came to the bigger ship, "all of a sudden, you're starting to use a piece that hasn't been used in years," he said. As of Monday, satellite images showed that the bow of the ship still stuck on the pier, with evidence of a dredging operation at the harbor entrance. Following the launch, state media put the "responsible" officials on blast. This was a choice. "Normally these things are done quietly," Bermudez said. Within hours of the disaster, the Pyongyang Times reported Kim denouncing it at length, calling it a "criminal act" that "could not be tolerated." Multiple detailed updates to the recovery operation have followed. The Choe Hyon-class destroyer is a step towards a major ambition of Kim's: transforming North Korea's primarily coastal navy into a blue-water fleet, Bermudez said. A setback to that project is a "slap in the face" for Kim, he added. Although the full capabilities of the new ship are not yet known, its sister ship the Choe Hyon — the first in the class — wields modern capabilities like an air defence system and vertically launched missiles. State media has claimed it can carry nuclear-capable missiles — in which case, the program is "very much interlinked with North Korea's broader nuclear ambitions," according to Edward Howell, an expert on North Korean politics at the University of Oxford. "The fact that it failed so miserably was pretty embarrassing for Kim," who is "captivated" by developing naval power, Bruce Bennett, a North Korea-focused defense analyst at the RAND think tank, told BI. It's even more galling in the wake of large-scale South Korean naval drills in the Yellow Sea earlier this month — which showcased its naval power after the launch of the first Choe Hyon. And there was another reason to denounce the named officials: In terms of domestic politics, "it puts everybody on notice," Bermudez said. When big programs that really matter to Kim fail, "he's going to take retribution," he added. Although officials have now said the damage is not as bad as first assessed — something that BI could not independently verify — it's still going to be treated with utmost seriousness in order to "deal a telling blow to incautiousness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricist attitude prevailing in any field," state media declared. It's unclear exactly what will happen to the officials named. Various punishments are possible through the judicial system, but all too often, "'due process' is a bullet in the head," RAND's Bennett said. In January, North Korea executed two unnamed nuclear power plant construction researchers for failing to complete their project and improve technological standards, Daily NK reported. Their junior colleagues were transported to what is believed to be a political prison camp, the outlet reported. Regardless of what punishment is handed down, one thing is likely: it'll also hit the officials' families. In the logic of the North Korean justice system, convictions are "because of a significant family flaw," Bennett said. "Therefore three generations of the family need to be dealt with." That could mean the officials' spouses, parents, and even kids could be sent to grim prison camps — and could also be downgraded within the country's system of social hierarchy, Songbun. "We don't know what their fates will be," said Howell. "Their fates don't look to be very pleasant." "But crucially," he added, "this is going to make no impact on North Korea's broader quest for naval modernization, military modernization." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
The 4 North Korean officials arrested over a botched destroyer launch are in mortal danger
Four officials detained after a North Korean destroyer was badly damaged on the day of its ceremonial launch into the water face potentially fatal consequences at the hands of Kim Jong Un, North Korean experts told Business Insider. "I would say there's a very good chance they'd be executed," Joseph S. Bermudez, an analyst in North Korean defense at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said. One striking aspect was the speed at which state-controlled North Korean media publicized the incident that damaged its newest warship, and also named the officials. The highly public nature of the announcements suggests Kim is "very upset," Bermudez added. How it all went wrong The arrests came within days of the botched launch of the nameless 5,000-ton destroyer, which saw the ship topple onto its side and its hull damaged. It's believed the mechanism that rolled the ship into the water malfunctioned, leaving the ship's bow stuck on the pier while its aft section lying in the water and flooded. State-run outlets announced the arrests, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the shipyard's chief engineer, the head of the hull construction workshop, and a deputy manager for administrative affairs. At the top of the list: Ri Hyong Son, a vice director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee, who was also arrested. The warship was one of two next-generation Choe Hyon-class destroyers. The first, the titular Choe Hyon, launched a month ago to great fanfare at Nampo Harbor on the peninsula's western coast. However, the second was constructed at the eastern Chongjin Shipyard, which does not typically produce large warships, Bermudez told BI. Rather than launching it in drydock or from a slipway, North Korea attempted a sideways launch — something the workers may not have been well-practiced at with a larger vessel, he said. When it came to the bigger ship, "all of a sudden, you're starting to use a piece that hasn't been used in years," he said. As of Monday, satellite images showed that the bow of the ship still stuck on the pier, with evidence of a dredging operation at the harbor entrance. Why Kim is turning up the heat Following the launch, state media put the "responsible" officials on blast. This was a choice. "Normally these things are done quietly," Bermudez said. Within hours of the disaster, the Pyongyang Times reported Kim denouncing it at length, calling it a "criminal act" that "could not be tolerated." Multiple detailed updates to the recovery operation have followed. The Choe Hyon-class destroyer is a step towards a major ambition of Kim's: transforming North Korea's primarily coastal navy into a blue-water fleet, Bermudez said. A setback to that project is a "slap in the face" for Kim, he added. Although the full capabilities of the new ship are not yet known, its sister ship the Choe Hyon — the first in the class — wields modern capabilities like an air defence system and vertically launched missiles. State media has claimed it can carry nuclear-capable missiles — in which case, the program is "very much interlinked with North Korea's broader nuclear ambitions," according to Edward Howell, an expert on North Korean politics at the University of Oxford. "The fact that it failed so miserably was pretty embarrassing for Kim," who is "captivated" by developing naval power, Bruce Bennett, a North Korea-focused defense analyst at the RAND think tank, told BI. It's even more galling in the wake of large-scale South Korean naval drills in the Yellow Sea earlier this month — which showcased its naval power after the launch of the first Choe Hyon. And there was another reason to denounce the named officials: In terms of domestic politics, "it puts everybody on notice," Bermudez said. When big programs that really matter to Kim fail, "he's going to take retribution," he added. Although officials have now said the damage is not as bad as first assessed — something that BI could not independently verify — it's still going to be treated with utmost seriousness in order to "deal a telling blow to incautiousness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricist attitude prevailing in any field," state media declared. A generational punishment It's unclear exactly what will happen to the officials named. Various punishments are possible through the judicial system, but all too often, "'due process' is a bullet in the head," RAND's Bennett said. In January, North Korea executed two unnamed nuclear power plant construction researchers for failing to complete their project and improve technological standards, Daily NK reported. Their junior colleagues were transported to what is believed to be a political prison camp, the outlet reported. Regardless of what punishment is handed down, one thing is likely: it'll also hit the officials' families. In the logic of the North Korean justice system, convictions are "because of a significant family flaw," Bennett said. "Therefore three generations of the family need to be dealt with." That could mean the officials' spouses, parents, and even kids could be sent to grim prison camps — and could also be downgraded within the country's system of social hierarchy, Songbun. "We don't know what their fates will be," said Howell. "Their fates don't look to be very pleasant." "But crucially," he added, "this is going to make no impact on North Korea's broader quest for naval modernization, military modernization."
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
North Korea detains four officials over naval destroyer debacle
North Korean authorities have detained four officials after the launch of a naval destroyer ended in failure last week, its state media reported, in a debacle that the country's dictator Kim Jong-un said was caused by 'criminal negligence'. Kim, who attended the event on Wednesday in the northeastern port of Chongjin, was said to be furious after the launch of the pariah state's second naval destroyer was marred by an accident and lost its balance. Satellite imagery showed the vessel toppled over and draped in blue covers, with parts of the warship submerged. It is unusual for Pyongyang to acknowledge military-related setbacks and publicly punish officials over them, with analysts saying it reflects how serious Kim is about North Korea's naval modernisation. Soon after the embarrassing incident, Kim blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for the botched launch, labelling it a 'criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism'. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that authorities detained Ri Hyong-son, vice director of the munitions industry department at the ruling Workers Party's Central Committee, who said it was 'greatly responsible' for the failed launch. Three other officials – the chief engineer, head of the hull construction workshop and deputy manager for administrative affairs – were also detained, it reported, while the shipyard manager was called in for questioning. Wednesday's incident followed the successful launch of North Korea's first naval destroyer last month, with Kim hailing its construction 'a breakthrough' in modernising North Korea's navy. State media reported that the ship – the country's most advanced – is designed to carry modern weapons including nuclear missiles. South Korean officials said the warship, named the Choe Hyon, was likely built with the aid of Russia. Kim has presented his efforts to develop Pyongyang's military capabilities as crucial in repelling perceived threats from the US and its regional allies. Despite publicly detaining officials and Kim's outraged reaction to last week's incident, North Korea denied the second destroyer suffered major damage and claimed on Friday that it would require 10 days to be repaired, though commentators said it was likely to be downplaying the damage.
