North Korea has launched a new 5,000-tonne destroyer as part of Kim Jong Un’s plans to expand the country’s naval power far beyond its coastal waters.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has unveiled a 5,000-tonne warship that state media describes as a "new multipurpose destroyer."

The launch took place at the military shipbuilding dockyard in Nampho and was hailed by Vice-Admiral Pak Kwang Sop as marking a new era of "great Kim Jong Un-style fleet building."

Officials said the ship is equipped with the "most powerful weapons." Kim announced that the vessel would be handed over to the navy and enter service early next year.

The warship, designated the "Choe Hyon-class" after an anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter, is part of broader naval modernization plans.

Kim said the program would include more destroyers and even larger vessels as he aims to build a "blue-water operational fleet" capable of operating far beyond the Korean Peninsula.

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