North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Visits 5000-Tonne Naval Destroyer

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the country’s 5000-tonne destroyer and said that it should “punish the enemy’s provocations”, state media reported on Monday. The destroyer was launched this year as Kim seeks to ramp up the country’s naval capabilities.

According to the state-news agency KNCA, Kim, while visiting the destroyer, said that the warship “is a clear demonstration of the development of... (North Korea’s) armed forces”. 

“The tremendous ability of our navy should be exercised in the vast ocean to thoroughly deter or counter and punish the enemy’s provocations for the sovereignty of the state,” he added.

Two such destroyers have been unveiled this year, with a third one set to be built by October next year. South Korea’s military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help, possibly in exchange for deploying thousands of North Korean troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, AFP reported. 

The KNCA had released photos of Kim inside the ship. The visit comes a day after he announced the deployment of “special assets to major targets” in response to what he called the United States’ arms build-up in South Korea, without providing further details.

He had asserted on Saturday the North’s enemies “will have to worry about which direction their security environment is moving in.”

The US currently has around 28,500 troops in the South. They also conducted a joint military exercise with its security allies, South Korea and Japan last month. North Korea has claimed these exercises as rehearsals for invasion while the allies have insisted it to be defensive in nature.