North Korea suffered an embarrassing setback this week when its second 5,000-ton-class naval destroyer was damaged during a failed launch into the sea, according to state media reports on Thursday. The incident occurred during a ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at the port of Chongjin.
The warship, which is part of Kim’s broader plan to modernize North Korea’s naval forces, tipped and sustained damage to its underside after a malfunction involving a stern-mounted transport cradle. The cradle slipped prematurely and became jammed, causing the ship to lose balance.
North Korea rarely acknowledges military failures, but experts believe the regime’s transparency in this case indicates Kim’s commitment to enhancing the country’s maritime capabilities — and his confidence that the program will succeed over time.
State-run Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim harshly criticized officials, scientists, and workers involved, calling the accident a “serious accident and criminal act” born of “absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.” He announced a Workers’ Party meeting in late June to address the incident.
Professor Moon Keun-sik, a naval analyst at Hanyang University in Seoul, suggested that the accident likely stemmed from inexperience in handling warships of this scale, combined with pressure to launch quickly.
This destroyer is believed to be part of the same Choe Hyon-class as North Korea’s first large warship, which was revealed in April and hailed as the country’s most sophisticated naval vessel to date. The original destroyer, named after a Korean independence fighter, is reportedly armed with a variety of weapons systems, including anti-air and anti-ship defenses as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Thursday that the second vessel appeared to have similar systems and was still partially capsized in the water. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are continuing to assess the extent of the damage.
Commercial satellite imagery had previously indicated construction of the ship at Chongjin’s Hambuk shipyard. Analysis by Beyond Parallel, a project under the Center for Strategic and International Studies, confirmed a second Choe Hyon-class destroyer under construction as of May 12.
A separate report by 38 North noted that the new destroyer was being launched sideways, a technique rarely used in North Korea. The first destroyer, built at the Nampo shipyard, had been launched using a floating dry dock.
South Korean defense officials have suggested the new destroyers were likely developed with Russian assistance, amid deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. While North Korea’s navy remains technologically inferior to South Korea’s, the new class of destroyers is seen as a meaningful threat capable of expanding the North’s regional reach and deterrence capabilities.
Kim Jong Un continues to present his naval expansion — including plans for a nuclear-powered submarine — as a necessary countermeasure to growing military exercises by the United States and its allies in the region.
Just hours after revealing details of the failed ship launch, North Korea also test-fired multiple cruise missiles from the coastal area near Sondok, according to South Korea’s military. The missiles’ flight details are still under analysis by South Korean and U.S. intelligence.
This test is part of North Korea’s ongoing pattern of weapons demonstrations in response to what it views as external threats.
