Seoul, March 5
Amidst the recent escalation of tensions in West Asia into a full-scale conflict in Iran, North Korea's Kim Jong Un has inspected the test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from a new naval destroyer ahead of its commissioning, the country's state media was cited by Seoul's news agency Yonhap on Thursday.
Kim supervised the launch of sea-to-surface missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon from a shipyard in the port city of Nampo in the west of the country, the South Korean news agency said, citing North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim oversaw the launch of sea-to-surface strategic cruise missiles from the destroyer on Wednesday and assessed the test as a "core" element of the new warship's capabilities, which he described as a "new symbol of sea defence" for his country.
"All these successes constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century," he said.
Yonhap noted that North Korea uses references to "strategic" weapons to indicate they could have nuclear capabilities.
His visit to the shipyard over two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) Kim inspected the Choe Hyon, the lead vessel in a new series of 5,000-tonne "Choe Hyon-class" destroyers currently under construction in North Korea.
North Korea had unveiled the Choe Hyon in April 2025, a 5,000-ton multipurpose destroyer, as part of efforts to enhance its naval power.
In May, last year, a second Choe Hyon-class destroyer had capsized during a launch ceremony at Chongjin Shipyard, an incident witnessed by the North Korean leader.
A report in the Al Jazeera mentioned that the accident crushed parts of the hull and left the bow stranded on the shipway. At the time, Kim characterised the launch failure as a "criminal act", blaming the incident on "absolute carelessness" and "irresponsibility" across multiple state institutions.
Following this in June last year, North Korea launched another 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon.
Before the development of the "Choe Hyon class" destroyer, North Korea's most advanced warship was a 1,500-ton frigate, according to Seoul's defence white paper.
According to KCNA, the third destroyer under construction at the Nampo shipyard is expected to be completed by the ruling Workers' Party's founding anniversary in October.
Meanwhile, Yonhap reported that in a new five-year plan to enhance defence power, Pyongyang has vowed to continue to produce nuclear weapons and develop various strategic weapons.
The 9th Congress of the North Korea Workers' Party was held from February 19 to February 25 after which Kim reportedly said that he plans to expand his country's nuclear arsenal.
Just days after the Congress, the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that led to the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry had, through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), condemned the "reckless bandit-like behaviour," of the United States and Israel as "illegal aggression" and a "despicable form of sovereignty violation."
Incidentally, North Korea has in the last few years signed defence pacts with both Russia and China.
- ANI
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