Kim Jong-un unveils nuclear navy expansion plans at destroyer commissioning

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un used the commissioning of the country's 5000-ton class destroyer to declare that the nuclear arming of his navy was advancing as planned, and ordered the construction of a modern naval base to harbor a growing fleet of large warships.

The emphasis on nuclear-armed warships points to an effort to lock in a sea-based second-strike capability quickly, analysts said, at a moment when much of the world's attention is fixed on the Middle East and the deadlocked talks between the United States and Iran. A second strike is the ability to launch nuclear retaliation after absorbing an enemy's first attack.

The Rodong Sinmun reported Wednesday that Kim had attended the commissioning of the 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon a day earlier at the western port of Nampo and delivered a speech.

The ship, which entered service about a year after its launch last April, is named after Choe Hyon, an anti-Japanese partisan and close military aide to state founder Kim Il Sung and the father of Choe Ryong-hae, the former head of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium.

North Korea test-fired strategic cruise and anti-ship missiles from the vessel in March and April to assess its operations. 

"It has clearly become a thing of the past when our navy existed as a force for defending the sea off our land," Kim said in his speech. "It is rising into a full-fledged service equipped with strategic means as the program of equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons is following its planned course unerringly."

Kim framed the buildup as central to the North's nuclear posture.

"This is a strategic course of crucial importance as it will make it possible to keep the nuclear force of our state ready for multifaceted and efficient operation," he said.

The Hwasal-series cruise missiles carried by the Choe Hyon can be fitted with the Hwasan-31, the warhead the North describes as a tactical nuclear device.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the commissioning photographs offered a clue to the ship's armament.

"Judging from the small vertical launch tubes captured in the photos, it appears the ship has switched from the short-range ship-to-surface ballistic missiles disclosed during testing to cruise missiles capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads," he said.

Kim also laid out plans for a larger fleet. Under the country's five-year plan, he said, North Korea should build two surface combatants of the Choe Hyon class or larger each year, including 10,000-ton cruisers, along with escort ships, special-purpose vessels and underwater weapons systems.

He acknowledged the North had no base big enough to berth a warship the size of the Choe Hyon, calling it "a happy problem," and said building a modern naval base had become an urgent and essential task. He reaffirmed a plan to construct a fleet base that was adopted at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party held Saturday to Sunday. 

According to Kim, a second 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, would soon enter service. The ship was damaged during a botched launch last year and was repaired before being relaunched in June 2025. 

"Following the Choe Hyon, we will soon commission the destroyer Kang Kon for operations," he said. "After that, we will launch 10,000-ton strategic warships one after another."

Jo Chun-ryong, the Workers' Party secretary for munitions, reported that the Choe Hyon had completed evaluations of its weapons performance, combat suitability and overall operations, along with test firings, integrated trials and military certification. Kim presented the crew with binoculars bearing his name and posed for commemorative photographs.

His daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who had accompanied him on recent sea trials of the Choe Hyon and the Kang Kon, did not appear in the released photographs.

"The North is trying to complete its naval nuclear armament as fast as possible while international attention is concentrated on the Middle East," Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

"There is also an aspect of signaling its intent to take the lead in security on the Korean Peninsula and across the region by strengthening naval power that has been seen as relatively weak."

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]