A third North Korean shipyard has joined efforts to build a large new class of warships, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, under leader Kim Jong Un’s shift to focus on ships bigger than the two 5,000-ton destroyers completed this year.

Planet Labs imagery shows that the Chongjin Shipyard on the northeast coast started delivering large inner deck sections of a vessel in mid-October to the Rajin Shipyard up the coast for assembly. 

The red-colored structural sections are 18 to 20 meters wide, suggesting the ship will be bigger than two Choe Hyon-class destroyers, which are around 16 meters. The intended length of the new ship is still unclear. 

Some sections have started to appear inside a dry dock at Rajin near the Rason Port, and propaganda slogan boards have been installed around it, further suggesting assembly will take place there. 

Notably, North Korea has been using Rason Port to trade weapons with neighboring Russia since 2023.

NK Pro has identified specific ship sections moving from Chongjin to Rajin between Oct. 21 and 27, as well as a cargo vessel measuring around 45 by 16 meters that was likely used to move them.

The sections have appeared to be produced inside production halls at the Chongjin Shipyard and then placed on outdoor staging grids under large gantry cranes, in the same place where the No. 52 Kang Kon destroyer was built.

They then appear to have been moved across the shipyard’s bay and staged on a quay, before appearing to be picked up by the above-mentioned cargo ship and taken around 70 kilometers north to Rason. 

It remains unclear if the Chongjin Shipyard is constructing a ship as well, since structural sections in recent weeks continued to move around on the grid where the destroyer was built instead of being assembled. 

It’s possible that the Chongjin Shipyard’s factory facilities are still being utilized but that Kim Jong Un does not trust its ability to successfully side-launch a ship. The shipyard botched a launch for the Kang Kon destroyer in May 2025, leading to its partial capsizing and a major recovery effort that severely delayed its completion.

Instead, he may be entrusting the Rajin Shipyard — which repaired and successfully launched the Kang Kon — to assemble the new ship in a dry dock where it faces less risk of disaster, as its assembly area can be kept dry and then simply filled to float the ship in place when it’s ready for launch.

Planet Labs imagery also shows new jetties being built outside the dry dock entrance since late October, possibly to serve as protective breakwaters. 

NK Pro was first to report on new efforts to upgrade the Rajin Shipyard starting in July, an early sign that Kim planned to use it for the next round of warship construction.

Meanwhile, state media reported that Kim visited Nampho Shipyard on the west coast last Sunday, offering the first, albeit incomplete, look at a new ship in an apparently advanced stage of construction that is larger than the Choe Hyon-class destroyers.

Red-colored hull structure sections appearing at Nampho are similar in appearance and size as those at Chongjin and Rason, suggesting they could be of the same class.

Kim Jong Un has mentioned plans to build 10,000-ton cruisers several times in the last couple of years, but it’s not yet confirmed if the ships now under construction will meet that description.

Edited by David Choi