North Korea has officially launched its second new naval destroyer this year at a major ceremony on the east coast, according to state media on Friday, saying the ship has been “fully restored” less than a month after it capsized during the first launch attempt.

The ceremony took place inside the dry dock of the Rajin Shipyard in Rason, where it arrived around four days earlier for repairs, raising questions over how complete the repairs were.

Leader Kim Jong Un attended the ceremony on Thursday and said the warship would now undergo testing before being delivered to the East Sea Fleet “in the middle of next year,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

North Korea’s new warship construction is a response to the “provocative intentions of the U.S. and follower nation militaries,” Kim said in a speech at the event, citing “U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines, and various vessels constantly appearing” in the region.  

Echoing his comments at the April destroyer ceremony, Kim said the new warships will sail beyond the Korean Peninsula and into the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere to project North Korea’s naval power and force the “strategic retreat of [our] enemies.”

Kim warned that the ships will sail to “major ports and waters of enemy nations,” even “across the Pacific,” and that “before long, the enemies themselves will experience how irritating and unpleasant it is to sit and watch enemy nation vessels roam the periphery of sovereign waters.”

“We will respond to aggressive adversaries with overwhelming military action in all matters reflexively and with equivalent force,” he added. “We have such capability, and we will definitely cultivate it.”

KCNA reported that the new vessel is a 5,000-ton destroyer named “Kang Kon,” the name of an “anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter” from the Kim Il Sung era, with the number 52 painted on its hull. The warship that launched in late April on the west coast in Nampho was called “Choe Hyon,” with the number 51 on its hull. Both are classified as “Choe Hyon-class” destroyers.

Photos released with the report show it is equipped with the same armaments as the one in Nampho, including three vertical launch systems (VLS) for anti-aircraft missiles as well as nuclear-armed cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.

Kim said the ship also features the latest in North Korea’s electronic warfare weapons while hinting at plans to use “artificial intelligence technology in combat environments,” also adding  that research is being conducted into new surface and underwater weapons as well as ship engines.

North Korea military expert Joost Oliemans told NK News that “⁠the ship looks outwardly fine” despite “some buckling of the sheet metal on the superstructure is visible in places,” which he described as “not beyond what might’ve occurred during construction.”

“⁠The launch was definitely a rush job, and various systems are missing,” according to Oliemans, including four non-line-of-sight (NLOS) missile launchers and “presumably all interior weapons systems.” He also said there appeared to be “various small construction differences” from the Nampho destroyer that point to iterative improvements or poor standardization.

Construction on the newest ship began just over a year ago, around May 2024, at the Chongjin Shipyard about 50 miles (80 km) down the coast.

The Chongjin Shipyard attempted to launch the destroyer on May 21 at a major ceremony with Kim Jong Un present, but it got caught during the lateral launch and tipped over, where it remained capsized on its starboard side until it was raised around two weeks later. 

The destroyer was then moved to Rason last Sunday. State media claimed “elaborate restoration” work on the destroyer in Rason would take “7 to 10 days,” longer than the four days it took to prepare and hold the launch ceremony.

Kim originally ordered its full repair before a party plenum convenes in late June.

Experts have speculated that the vessel likely suffered damage to weapons systems and electronics due to being submerged in seawater for weeks, and it remains possible that the ship still faces significant issues despite the propaganda ceremony conducted this week. 

The west coast Choe Hyon-class destroyer participated in missile tests just four days after its launch ceremony in April, suggesting the ship in Rason may soon be taken out for similar testing. However, state media did not show the Nampho ship moving under its own power during that test and additional scrutiny will be on the destroyer in Rason to determine whether its damage has truly been repaired.

In his speech at Thursday’s ceremony, Kim Jong Un recalled the disaster during the first launch attempt, saying it was “an absurd setback that instantly brought down the nation’s dignity and authority due to pure irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism,” but that “no difficulties could ever delay the important course of naval force strengthening.”

He declared that two destroyers will be deployed annually, starting with the two recently launched Choe Hyon-class destroyers in 2026. Construction will also commence “next year” on two more 5,000-ton destroyers, as well as on larger ships in the future.

Both destroyers built at Nampho and Chongjin in recent months are set to be deployed by the East Sea Fleet. 

It remains unclear why the first ship launched in April on the west coast was not conveyed to the West Sea Fleet. It will have to sail around South Korea sometime this year, testing the response of the U.S. and ROK navies. 

Meanwhile, Kim said one person died during construction of the newest ship, a worker at the Chongjin Shipyard named Jo Kum Hyok, because he refused to stop working despite being ill — a common narrative in state media meant to encourage individuals to consider their lives as less important than wider state economic and military goals. He died “just a few days before the launch,” suggesting it did not occur during the disaster when the ship capsized.

The DPRK leader framed the “criminal” disaster as a positive learning experience in the end, saying “severe and deserved punishment” was delivered to those found responsible while warning workers around the country to take note. 

He said “disasters caused by irresponsibility and unscientific approaches are occurring daily” around the country — a significant admission of major problems under his watch — but that “this time, we delivered strong blows” to bad work attitudes through the rapid ship relaunching.

State media did not provide a detailed update on the investigation into the Chongjin Shipyard disaster, having previously reported that four shipyard workers, including its top manager, and one munitions industry department official were summoned to authorities or arrested. 

However, Kim clarified that Chongjin nonetheless remains the “center” of his long-term shipbuilding plans.

Photos of Thursday’s event showed the managers of the Nampho Shipyard attended, but Chongjin Shipyard manager Hong Kil Ho notably did not.

NK News analysis of state TV coverage of the ceremony later Friday discovered that Hong and navy commander Kim Myong Sik, also absent from the event, were deleted from old photos — suggesting both were purged and possibly jailed or worse.

Kim also stressed in his speech that the DPRK’s newly revived naval shipbuilding prowess is purely thanks to “self-reliance,” appearing to reject suggestions by foreign experts that its rapid construction is due in part to help from Russia as payment for Kim sending troops to fight in Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Edited by Kristen Talman

Last updated June 13, 2025 at 5:27 p.m. KST with additional details from state media and expert comment