Kim Jong Un left fuming after North Korea’s new destroyer damaged in failed launch
North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un was left fuming this week when he attended the botched launch of a new 5,000-ton naval destroyer.
The launch, at the northeastern port of Chongjin, was intended to tout the communist nation’s military advancement but ended in embarrassment for Kim after the ship slid off a ramp and became stuck, state media reported.
The flatcar failed to move alongside the ship, throwing it off balance and crushing parts of the ship’s bottom, North Korean news agency KCNA reported. Its stern slid down the launch slipway while its bow section failed to leave the ramp.
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The total extent of the damage was unclear and it isn’t known if there were any injuries.
North Korea did not release photos from the scene, although satellite imagery released by South Korea on Thursday indicated that the ship was lying on its side in the water after the failed launch.
According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony on Wednesday, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.”
Kim warned that the errors caused by the “irresponsibility of the relevant officials” would need to be investigated at a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June.
He said that restoring the destroyer before the meeting was directly related to the prestige of the state and the restoration should be completed unconditionally.
Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said that despite the embarrassment, Kim still wanted to publicly report on the mishap.
“It’s a shameful thing, but the reason why North Korea disclosed the incident is it wants to show it’s speeding up the modernization of its navy forces and expresses its confidence that it can eventually build,” he told The Associated Press.
Moon suspected that the incident likely happened because North Korean workers aren’t yet familiar with such a large warship and had been rushed to put it in the water.
It was the second naval destroyer the secretive nation launched in 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. Kim later watched missiles fired from the ship, with experts saying that it appeared to have been built with Russian technology.
Experts said that both ships are likely designed to carry weapons systems including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles.
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A report by the North Korea-focused 38 North website assessed last week that the destroyer in Chongjin was being prepared to be launched sideways from the quay, a method that has rarely been used in North Korea. The report said the destroyer launched in Nampo, in contrast, used a floating dry dock.
Kim has framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the United States and South Korea, which have been expanding joint military exercises in response to the North’s advancing nuclear program.
In March, Kim oversaw tests of newly developed AI-powered suicide drones and called for their increased production. He was seen walking with aides on what appeared to be an unmanned surveillance aircraft that resembles the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance aircraft parked on the tarmac in the background.
Other images showed a fixed-wing drone zeroing in on a tank-shaped target then exploding in flames.
Kim has said that unmanned control and AI capability must be the top priorities in modern arms development.
Kim was also seen walking to a large aircraft with four engines and a radar dome mounted on the fuselage. Analysts have previously reported that North Korea was converting the Russian-made Il-76 cargo aircraft for an early-warning role to help augment the North’s existing land-based radar systems, which are sometimes limited by the peninsula’s mountainous terrain, London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report in September.
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North Korea also revealed this year that it has a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that could pose a major security threat to South Korea and the U.S.
Meanwhile, North Korea has sent between 11,000 and 15,000 military personnel to fight alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine in its first involvement in a large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The South Korean military assessed that around 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.