North Korea’s second naval destroyer was damaged in its failed launch to the water this week, state media reported Thursday, in an embarrassment for leader Kim Jong Un as he pushes to modernize his naval forces, as per a report by AP.
During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-ton-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
KCNA did not provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured.
According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.” Kim called for a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June to address their “irresponsible errors.”
Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, suspected the incident likely happened because North Korean workers are not yet familiar with such a large warship and were rushed to put it in the water.
State media described that ship as designed to handle various weapons systems, including anti-air and anti-ship weapons as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles. Kim said the ship was expected to enter active duty early next year and later supervised test-firings of missiles from the warship.
The North Korean report came after recent commercial satellite images indicated that the country was building its second destroyer at a shipyard in Chongjin.
Hours after releasing the report on the damaged destroyer, North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles from an area near the northeastern town of Sondok, according to South Korea’s military. The launches were a continuation of a streak of weapons-testing activities by North Korea in recent years.
