BEIJING - North Korea has commissioned its second 5,000-ton destroyer for deployment in the Sea of Japan, with leader Kim Jong Un reiterating Pyongyang's policy of developing its navy into a nuclear armed force, state-run media said Monday.
At a commissioning ceremony held Sunday in the eastern port city of Wonsan for the destroyer Kang Kon, Kim said the new-generation destroyer "should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies as it is a force involved in the state nuclear counteraction system," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
In an apparent reference to South Korea, the United States and Japan, Kim said the Sea of Japan and its adjacent waters have been a "primary area of concern" as hostile warships constantly appear, freely maneuvering to deploy nuclear assets and conduct joint war drills.
Recently, North Korea has witnessed enemies' efforts to "ramp up war preparations directed against us," Kim said, adding that gone are the days when "we were forced to merely watch" as "enemy warships roamed the fringes of our sovereign waters."
The five-day trilateral Freedom Edge exercise involving South Korean, U.S. and Japanese troops was to run through Friday in international waters near the South Korean island of Jeju, to boost capabilities to counter nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
Should the enemies attempt to use armed forces, Kim said, he will order the employment of "absolute power" to deal a devastating blow to them. "Whenever that order is issued, you must deliver a retaliatory strike that annihilates" the enemies, he was quoted as saying by KCNA.
Kim also said North Korea is implementing a "crucial plan to strengthen our naval forces" and demonstrate its results to the world in eight months, without elaborating.
In July, Kim observed a cruise missile launch and other weapons tests of the Kang Kon, including naval artillery, automatic machine guns and electronic warfare systems. The warship, built in the northeastern city of Chongjin, was relaunched in 2025 after partially capsizing.
The new destroyer's commissioning followed the entry into service in June of the Choe Hyon, another 5,000-ton warship to be deployed in the Yellow Sea.
Kim has called for the annual building of two large warships under the five-year national defense development plan through 2030, including a 10,000-ton cruiser, and the construction of large and multi-functional naval bases that can accommodate the ships.
At Sunday's ceremony, Kim was accompanied by his daughter, who is believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and to be in her teens.
