SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to keep building a more modern navy fleet to enhance the country’s maritime power as he attended the launching ceremony for a warship that was repaired after its earlier failed launch, state media said on Friday.
Satellite images had shown ongoing repairs to the 5,000-ton destroyer that partially capsized in May, after Mr. Kim called the accident a “criminal act” and ordered the ship to be rebuilt before a ruling party meeting later this month.
Mr. Kim said the restoration of the destroyer “had not delayed” North Korea’s attempts to enhance naval power, and said plans were in place “to build two more 5,000-ton destroyers next year”, KCNA reported.
North Korea has detained several officials since the initial failed launch of the destroyer, the largest warship Pyongyang has ever built.
Mr. Kim called for the country to strengthen its maritime military presence in the Pacific Ocean in the face of what he said were provocations by the United States and its allies, KCNA said.
“Soon, enemies will experience themselves how provocative and unpleasant it is to sit and watch the ships of an adversary run rampant on the fringes of sovereign waters,” Mr. Kim said in a speech at the ceremony, according to KCNA.
“I’m sure that in the near future, the routes of our battleships … will be opened on the Pacific Ocean toward the outposts of aggression.”
Mr. Kim also said a shipyard worker had died in their “destroyer construction battle” a few days before the launch, and awarded a “patriotic sacrifice certificate” to the man’s family.
The re-launch of the vessel, just three weeks after the initial failure, is probably an indication that the damage to the vessel was relatively minor in nature, a Washington think tank said.
Satellite imagery showed the vessel’s gun turret had been bounded but hatches for the vertical launch systems were covered, making it unclear whether the systems had been completely installed, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report.
Pyongyang’s plan to build more destroyers could “further complicate U.S. and allied missile defense in the region,” CSIS said. – Reuters
