North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un announced on Wednesday that the country’s newest destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system, which has the potential to deliver ‘annihilating retaliatory strikes’
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un announced on Wednesday that the country’s newest destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system, which has the potential to deliver “annihilating retaliatory strikes”. According to the North Korean news outlet KCNA, while Kim boasted about the country’s military might, he did not say whether the vessel would carry nuclear weapons.
It is pertinent to note that North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernise its navy as Kim pursues a broader expansion of the country’s nuclear-capable forces. During the commissioning ceremony in the eastern port city of Wonsan on Sunday, Kim said the new ship’s deployment to the sea east of the Korean Peninsula sent a clear signal to North Korea’s adversaries.
“The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater,” the North Korean supreme leader asserted, according to KCNA. The 5,000-ton-class destroyer, the “Kang Kon”, is the second warship of its class to enter service, following the commissioning of the “Choe Hyon” destroyer on North Korea’s west coast about three months earlier, Kim said.
Kim advances North Korea’s nuclear capabilities
According to KCNA, North Korea’s Kim said that naval nuclear armaments were advancing, and the country would continue to expand what he called its most powerful strategic assets in key waters to protect its maritime sovereignty and regional security.
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He maintained that the Kang Kon would form part of North Korea’s state nuclear response system. While the North Korean state media did not specify what weapons systems might be deployed on the Kang Kon, it said that it would be the same as the one deployed on Choe Hyon. A previous KCNA report suggested that Choe Hyon-class destroyers can carry a range of weapons, including missiles that analysts say are capable of carrying a nuclear payload.
Meanwhile, Kim maintained that he would demonstrate another stage of North Korea’s naval buildup in eight months, KCNA said, without giving details. Kim also noted that the construction of naval bases on North Korea’s east coast was under way and that the country would create new naval units and build different classes of warships.
With inputs from Reuters.