North Korea should build two warships a year in next five years, Kim says

SEOUL — North Korea should build two warships as large as its 5,000-metric-ton Choe Hyon vessel every year over the next five years, leader Kim Jong Un said during a commissioning ceremony for a destroyer on Tuesday, according to state media KCNA.

Kim attended the ceremony at the Nampho port to mark the deployment of the new multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The destroyer completed military operational tests over the past 14 months, KCNA added.

The country also plans to deploy another 5,000-ton destroyer named Kang Kon soon, along with 10,000-ton strategic warships, Kim said in remarks carried by the report.

The Kang Kon vessel was repaired last year after partially capsizing during its launch ceremony.

Kim said the navy has traditionally been the weakest branch of the country’s armed forces, but its capabilities would now become “something incredible beyond imagination.”

“Building a modernized naval base has emerged as a desperate and essential task,” Kim said.

He added that officials from the ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee discussed plans for new naval bases at a meeting on Monday.

Kim said the most important change for the navy would be a shift in its status, role, and operational scope, though he did not provide further details.

He also said the navy’s nuclearization is “advancing along its own course” and contributing to the country’s nuclear deterrence strategy.

North Korea state media Korean Central News Agency reported the remarks. -Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Jamie Freed/Reuters