buildup

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the country’s first 5,000-ton destroyer and called for bolstering naval power to “punish” threats to national sovereignty, state-run media reported Monday.

Kim visited the Choe Hyon destroyer on Sunday with high-ranking party and government officials as part of his tour of a military hardware exhibition, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Pyongyang launched the Choe Hyon at the Nampo Shipyard in April. The vessel is armed with a wide range of weapons, including nuclear-capable cruise missiles, according to North Korean reports.

Kim called the destroyer the “remarkable latest success” of the North’s warship-building industry and a symbol of the “rapidly developing naval forces of the DPRK,” KCNA reported.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

The North Korean leader added that the country’s naval power “should be exercised in the vast ocean to thoroughly deter or counter and punish the enemy’s provocations for the sovereignty of the state and its security interests.”

The de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, known as the Northern Limit Line, has long been a source of tension between the two Koreas. North Korea does not officially recognize the NLL, which was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command after the Korean War.

The boundary area has been the location for a handful of naval skirmishes in the decades after the 1950-53 war, including the North’s 2010 torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 dead.

In January 2024, Kim called the line “illegal” and warned that even the slightest violation of the North’s territory would be considered a “war provocation.”

He later repeated the threats, saying the boundary was a “ghost … without any ground in the light of international law or legal justification.”

More recently, South Korea’s military fired warning shots after a North Korean merchant vessel crossed the border on Sep. 25.

Pyongyang unveiled a second 5,000-ton warship in May, named the Kang Kon, but the vessel suffered an accident at its launch ceremony that left it listing on its side.

Kim, who was in attendance at the launch, called the mishap a “criminal act” and warned of serious consequences for those found responsible. At least four officials were arrested in the aftermath.

The Kang Kon was repaired and relaunched in June, although analysts have questioned whether it is fully operational.

The North has vowed to build another 5,000-ton destroyer by October 2026.

North Korea’s leader threatens to speed up Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal expansion over a sign of ‘hostile intent’.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to accelerate the expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal, condemning ongoing United States-South Korea military exercises as a sign of “hostile intent”, according to state media.

Kim, who made the remarks during a visit to a naval destroyer, called the drills “an obvious expression of their will to provoke war”, according to a report published on Tuesday.

He insisted North Korea must “rapidly expand” its nuclear weapons programme, pointing to the inclusion of what he called “nuclear elements” in the drills.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills began this week, combining large-scale field manoeuvres with upgraded responses to what the US and South Korea claim are North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities.

The exercises will run for 11 days, with half of the 40 field training events rescheduled to September.

Purely defensive

South Korean officials said the adjustment reflects President Lee Jae Myung’s call to lower tensions, though analysts doubt Pyongyang will respond positively.

Seoul and Washington claim the exercises are purely defensive, but Pyongyang regularly denounces them as preparations for invasion and has often replied with weapons tests.

North Korea’s position is expected to feature in talks between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee in Washington later this month, with efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions high on the agenda.

“Through this move, North Korea is demonstrating its refusal to accept denuclearisation and the will to irreversibly upgrade nuclear weapons,” said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Research published by the Federation of American Scientists last year estimated that North Korea may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads, though the number actually assembled was likely closer to 50.

Alongside its nuclear ambitions, Pyongyang is also advancing its naval capabilities. The North Korean public broadcaster KCNA reported that the country aims to complete construction of a third 5,000-tonne Choe Hyon-class destroyer by October next year, and is testing cruise and anti-air missiles for the vessels.