North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly condemned a serious accident involving the launch of a new 5,000-ton destroyer as a “criminal act” rooted in “absolute carelessness,” marking a rare and unusually candid acknowledgment of failure by Pyongyang’s leadership.
The incident occurred Wednesday at the northeastern port of Chongjin, state media KCNA reported Thursday.
According to KCNA, the warship lost balance during the launch, causing crushing damage to sections of its bottom hull. While the report did not confirm any casualties, South Korea’s military observed the vessel lying sideways in the water shortly after the failed launch.
Kim, who was present at the event, sharply criticized what he described as “irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism,” stating the failure had brought “the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse.” He ordered an immediate restoration of the ship ahead of a key Workers’ Party meeting scheduled for June, adding that resolving the issue was not just technical but a matter of national and political importance.
The failed launch was meant to showcase one of North Korea’s largest and most advanced naval assets—part of Kim’s broader strategy to upgrade the country’s maritime power with warships capable of carrying and launching dozens of missiles. It follows the April launch of another destroyer of similar class from the Nampho shipyard on the country’s west coast.
The latest ship was reportedly launched sideways from the quay, a method not previously observed in North Korean warship construction. Analysts from U.S.-based 38 North speculated last week that the technique may have been adopted out of necessity due to a lack of proper launching infrastructure at the site.
In a sign of possible military posturing, South Korea later reported that North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles on Thursday, around the time KCNA released its report on the failed warship launch. No further details on the missile tests were provided.
South Korean and U.S. intelligence had been monitoring the shipyard in advance of the launch, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Commercial satellite imagery captured the day before showed the destroyer on the quay with support vessels nearby and its missile tubes exposed.
Experts say Pyongyang’s quick and public acknowledgment of the failure reflects Kim’s evolving leadership strategy. “It shows again Kim Jong Un’s ruling style of cutting off negative rumors from spreading and controlling officials more forcefully by being open about it rather than hiding it,” said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute in Seoul.
The incident highlights the technical and infrastructural limitations North Korea still faces in its push to modernize its military, even as it seeks to project strength amid growing geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
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