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🇸🇬 Singapore /Energy & Infrastructure

Kim Jong Un says North Korea’s new destroyer will join its nuclear response system

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency New plan
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the 5,000-ton-class Kang Kon destroyer would form part of the country’s state nuclear response system, KCNA reported.
  • The agency did not say whether the ship would carry nuclear weapons, but said it has the same weapons systems as another destroyer in its class.
  • Kim said North Korea would expand its naval forces, build new warships and demonstrate another stage of its naval buildup within eight months.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has placed a newly commissioned destroyer at the center of his country’s effort to build a nuclear response capability at sea, saying the vessel could deliver “annihilating retaliatory strikes.”

The 5,000-ton-class Kang Kon entered service at a ceremony in the eastern port city of Wonsan on Sept. 6. Its deployment in waters east of the Korean Peninsula, Kim said, sent a clear signal to North Korea’s adversaries. “The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and under water,” he said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim said the Kang Kon would form part of North Korea’s state nuclear response system and that the country’s naval nuclear armaments were advancing. He pledged to keep expanding what he called North Korea’s most powerful strategic assets in key waters, linking the buildup to maritime sovereignty and regional security.

annihilating retaliatory strikes

· Kim Jong UnKim described the potential capability of the new destroyer as part of North Korea’s nuclear response system.

KCNA did not specify which weapons the Kang Kon might carry. It said the destroyer has the same systems as the Choe Hyon, the first warship of the class to enter service, on North Korea’s west coast about three months earlier. A previous KCNA report said Choe Hyon-class destroyers can carry several types of weapons, including missiles that analysts say could carry a nuclear payload.

Kim also said construction of naval bases on the east coast was under way. North Korea plans to create new naval units and build different classes of warships, he said. KCNA reported that Kim promised to demonstrate another stage of the naval buildup in eight months, without providing details.

The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and under water

· Kim Jong UnKim made the statement at the Kang Kon’s commissioning ceremony in Wonsan.
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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