North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the commissioning of the country’s first 5,000-ton naval destroyer on Tuesday, capping more than a year of development of a warship the country has hailed as the centerpiece of its efforts to transform the navy into a modern, nuclear-capable force.

The new multi-mission destroyer, named Choe Hyon, was formally inducted into the Korean People’s Army Navy after completing a 14-month period of sea trials and weapons tests to assess its operational capabilities, the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported Wednesday. 

Addressing senior ruling party and military officials and shipbuilders at the DPRK’s largest