SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected his new destroyer for two days ahead of its commissioning and observed tests of cruise missiles fired from the warship, state media said Thursday, vowing to speed up the North’s navy’s nuclear armament.
During his visit to the Nampo Western Shipyard on Tuesday and Wednesday, Kim Jong Un also inspected the construction of a third destroyer, which is of the same class as the 5,000-ton warship Choe Hyon that debuted in April 2025, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said.
Kim Jong-un praised the development of the Choe Hyon as a major step forward in achieving his goal of expanding the operational scope and pre-emptive strike capabilities of the nuclear armed forces. State media said the ship was designed to handle a variety of weapons systems, including air defense and anti-sea weapons, as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. South Korean military officials and experts say the Choe Hyun was likely built with Russian help amid deepening military ties between the two countries, but some have expressed doubts about its readiness for service.
North Korea launched a second destroyer of the same class in May last year, but it was damaged in a botched launching ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin, triggering a strong reaction from Kim Jong Un, who called the failure a “criminal”. North Korea said the new destroyer, named Kang Kon, was relaunched in June after repairs, but outside experts have questioned whether the ship is fully operational.
After observing the Choe Hyun’s sea trials on Tuesday, Kim Jong Un said the ship met operational requirements and called it a symbol of his country’s expanding naval capabilities. He called for building two warships of the same or higher class as the Choe Hyun each year for the next five years.
Kim Jong Un returned on Wednesday to watch the test launch of the Choe Hyon cruise missile. State media posted photos of him on shore watching several projectiles rise from the ship in white smoke, describing the weapons as “strategic” weapons, a term used for nuclear-capable systems.
After years of spurring ballistic missile development, Kim Jong Un has shifted his focus more toward naval capabilities, including the ongoing construction of nuclear-powered submarines. The third destroyer under construction at Nampo Shipyard is expected to be completed before the founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party in October, KCNA said.
Naval capabilities were also a key focus when Kim Jong Un outlined his five-year military goals at last month’s Workers’ Party congress, which included a call for the ability to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles from underwater.
Kim Jong Un claimed on Tuesday that his efforts to arm the navy with nuclear weapons were making “satisfactory” progress. He said these so-called advances would “constitute a fundamental change in defending our maritime sovereignty that we have not achieved in half a century.”
KCNA did not elaborate on what Kim Jong Un meant. Some analysts say North Korea may be preparing to formally declare maritime boundaries, which could infringe on waters controlled by rival South Korea.
As tensions between the two Koreas worsen, Kim has repeatedly said he does not recognize the northern boundary drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The poorly mapped western maritime border has been the scene of deadly maritime skirmishes in the past few years.
At the party congress, Kim Jong Un stepped up plans to expand North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, which is already equipped with a variety of weapons systems that threaten the United States and its allies in Asia, and confirmed his tough stance on rival South Korea.
But he left the door open to dialogue with the Trump administration, reiterating Pyongyang’s insistence that Washington abandon denuclearization as a precondition for resuming long-term talks.
