BEIJING, Sept 7 – North Korea has commissioned its second 5,000-ton destroyer for deployment in the Sea of Japan, with leader Kim Jong Un reiterating Pyongyang’s policy of developing its navy into a nuclear armed force, state-run media said Monday.
At a commissioning ceremony held Sunday in the eastern port city of Wonsan for the destroyer Kang Kon, Kim said the new-generation destroyer “should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies as it is a force involved in the state nuclear counteraction system,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
In an apparent reference to South Korea, the United States and Japan, Kim said the Sea of Japan and its adjacent waters have been a “primary area of concern” as hostile warships constantly appear, freely maneuvering to deploy nuclear assets and conduct joint war drills.
Recently, North Korea has witnessed enemies’ efforts to “ramp up war preparations directed against us,” Kim said, adding that gone are the days when “we were forced to merely watch” as “enemy warships roamed the fringes of our sovereign waters.”
On Monday, South Korean, U.S. and Japanese troops launched the five-day Freedom Edge exercise, held in international waters near the South Korean island of Jeju, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean Navy Rear Adm. Kim Ji Hoon told reporters following an opening ceremony for the drill at Yokota Air Base in the suburbs of Tokyo, “The main purpose of the exercise is to counter the nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. I am sure this will also send a message to the ship recently constructed by North Korea, the Kang Kong.”
The KCNA report also quoted North Korean leader Kim as saying that should the enemies attempt to use armed force, he will order the employment of “absolute power” to deal a devastating blow to them. “Whenever that order is issued, you must deliver a retaliatory strike that annihilates” the enemies, he said.
Kim also said North Korea is implementing a “crucial plan to strengthen our naval forces” and demonstrate its results to the world in eight months, without elaborating.
In July, Kim observed a cruise missile launch and other weapons tests of the Kang Kon, including naval artillery, automatic machine guns and electronic warfare systems. The warship, built in the northeastern city of Chongjin, was relaunched in 2025 after partially capsizing.
The new destroyer’s commissioning followed the entry into service in June of the Choe Hyon, another 5,000-ton warship to be deployed in the Yellow Sea.
Kim has called for the annual building of two large warships under the five-year national defense development plan through 2030, including a 10,000-ton cruiser, and the construction of large and multi-functional naval bases that can accommodate the ships.
At Sunday’s ceremony, Kim was accompanied by his daughter, who is believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and to be in her teens. – KyodoNews
