SEOUL, Sept. 7 (UPI) — North Korea commissioned its second 5,000-ton destroyer, state media reported Monday, as leader Kim Jong Un called for further strengthening the country’s naval power with nuclear-capable warships.
Kim attended a commissioning ceremony for the Kang Kon at the eastern port city of Wonsan on Sunday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The destroyer was assigned to the Navy’s East Sea Fleet to defend North Korea’s maritime sovereignty “as the nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA said.
Kim said the vessel “should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies” when ordered because it is part of the country’s “state nuclear counteraction system.”
“We should make sure that the diversified and effective operation of nuclear combat systems is conducted for an actual war through developing our navy into a nuclear armed force,” he said.
KCNA did not specify which weapons the Kang Kon would carry or explicitly say that nuclear weapons had been installed aboard it.
In July, however, Pyongyang conducted weapons tests from the ship that included the launch of what it called a “strategic” cruise missile, a term North Korea typically uses to indicate nuclear capability.
The Kang Kon is the North’s second 5,000-ton destroyer to enter service. North Korea commissioned the first, the Choe Hyon, in June and assigned it to operations in the Yellow Sea off the country’s west coast.
Images released by state media at the time appeared to show missile launchers and radar systems resembling those found on Russian warships, prompting speculation that Pyongyang has received technical assistance from Moscow.
North Korea has deployed troops and supplied artillery and missiles to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine and is widely believed to be receiving financial support and military technology in return.
Kim said naval bases were under construction on North Korea’s East Sea and described their development and the Kang Kon’s deployment as a “clear signal” to the country’s adversaries.
He also said Pyongyang was carrying out an “important plan” to strengthen its naval forces.
“I will prove this to the world once again eight months later,” Kim said in the text of his speech published separately by KCNA. He did not elaborate.
At the Choe Hyon commissioning in June, Kim called for North Korea to build two surface warships larger than the 5,000-ton destroyer every year over the next five years. He said the program would include 10,000-ton “strategic warships.”
The Kang Kon was damaged during a botched initial launch at the northeastern port of Chongjin in May 2025, leaving it tipped on its side and partially submerged.
Photos from Sunday’s ceremony showed Kim accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and daughter, Ju Ae. State media said the vessel departed following a nine-gun salute amid fireworks and balloons.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers last week that Pyongyang continues to take steps to establish Ju Ae, who is believed to be around 13, as her father’s successor.
The commissioning came as South Korea, Japan and the United States began their five-day Freedom Edge exercise Monday.
Major maritime and air assets from the three countries are participating in the multidomain exercise in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a press release.
The JCS described Freedom Edge as an annual defensive exercise intended to strengthen deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Pyongyang routinely condemns the allies’ drills as rehearsals for an invasion.
Sunday’s ceremony also came ahead of Wednesday’s 78th anniversary of North Korea’s founding.
