North Korean leader attends launching ceremony of new naval destroyer
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying on April 26 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the launching ceremony of a new destroyer for the country's navy and praised the military's efforts to strengthen its maritime power.
North Korea unveiled a new 5,000-ton multi-purpose destroyer at a ceremony held at a shipyard in the western port city of Nampho on April 25, marking the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Revolutionary Army, according to KCNA.
The destroyer will contribute to strengthening the power to “thoroughly defend” North Korea’s maritime sovereignty and serve as an important starting point on the path to developing the country’s advanced maritime power, Kim Jong-un said, KCNA reported.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that KCNA quoted Jo Chun Ryong, a secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, as saying that the new 5,000-ton warship that North Korea has just launched is described as having "Kim Jong-un's style", with the "most powerful" weapons system and was built "in over 400 days entirely with our own strength and technology".
In a speech at the launching ceremony, reported by KCNA, leader Kim Jong-un said the ship would be handed over to the navy and officially put into service early next year. The ceremony marked the start of a new era in “fleet building in the style of great leader Kim Jong-un,” Vice Admiral Pak Kwang Sop was quoted as saying by KCNA. The report also said the ship was classified as a “Choe Hyon”-class ship, named after anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon.
Earlier this month, Reuters news agency reported, citing satellite imagery analysis, that North Korea's new class of warships is capable of carrying dozens of vertical launch tubes (VLS), which could be used to deploy missiles developed by the country's military.
Kim also stressed that a powerful preemptive strike capability is “the most convincing war deterrent,” and there is no limit to the scale of such attacks. “Currently, the security environment of our country is very severe,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
The North Korean leader also thanked the workers and engineers who built the new destroyer, calling it a correct move in line with the party's policy of strengthening the navy.
Mr. Kim also accused the US of regularly deploying strategic assets on the Korean peninsula.
According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, B-1B strategic bombers participated in joint military exercises between South Korea and the US earlier this month, along with fighter jets.
In recent years, B-1Bs have appeared regularly in joint military exercises. North Korea has long condemned these exercises as war rehearsals, while Seoul insists they are purely defensive in nature.