Kim Jong-un said the new destroyer will join the nuclear counterattack system and can launch devastating retaliatory strikes
Quick Look
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced at the commissioning ceremony of the new ship Kangjian that the 5,000-ton destroyer will be included in North Korea's nuclear counterattack system and can launch devastating retaliatory strikes, but he did not specify whether it will carry nuclear weapons.
- This ship is the second Choi Hyun-class destroyer and is deployed in the East China Sea of the Korean Peninsula.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
North Korea has continued to develop nuclear weapons and missile technology in recent years while promoting naval modernization. It has previously commissioned the destroyer Choe Hyun.
(Central News Agency, Seoul, Comprehensive Foreign News Report on the 7th) North Korea’s official media, the Korean Central News Agency, reported today that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that North Korea’s latest destroyer will be integrated into the nuclear counterattack system and can launch “destructive retaliatory strikes.” However, the report did not specify whether the warship will be equipped with nuclear weapons.
As Kim Jong-un continues to expand North Korea's nuclear weapons capabilities, North Korea is also accelerating the development of naval modernization.
Kim Jong-un said at a warship commissioning ceremony in the eastern port city of Wonsan yesterday that the deployment of the new ship to the waters east of the Korean Peninsula would send a clear signal to North Korea's hostile forces.
"It is time for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater," Kim Jong Un said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim Jong-un as saying that the 5,000-ton destroyer Kang Kon is the second warship of the same class to be commissioned after the destroyer Choe Hyon was commissioned on the west coast of North Korea about three months ago.
Kim Jong-un said that North Korea's naval nuclear capabilities have been continuously upgraded and North Korea will continue to expand what he called its most powerful strategic assets in important sea areas to defend maritime sovereignty and regional security.
He also said that the Kangjian will become a part of North Korea's national nuclear counterattack system.
KCNA did not specify what weapons systems the Kang Gun might carry, but said its weapons systems were the same as those of the Choe Hyun. The Korean Central News Agency previously reported that the Choe Hyon-class destroyer can carry a variety of weapons, which analysts believe include missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un said that he will demonstrate the results of another phase of North Korea's naval construction in eight months, but did not disclose the details.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
North Korea to show off another phase of naval buildup in eight months
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Did Jiang Jian actually carry nuclear weapons?
- What exactly are the naval construction achievements that Kim Jong-un will demonstrate in eight months?
- What are the specific weapon systems of the Choi Hyun-class destroyer?
