Kim claims progress on nuclear-armed navy as new warship placed into service
North Korea has commissioned a 5,000-tonne destroyer that leader Kim Jong Un has hailed as a symbol of the country's growing naval and nuclear capabilities, state media reported on Wednesday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its ability to project military power at sea.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim told a commissioning ceremony on Tuesday at the western port city of Nampo that warships such as the Choe Hyon demonstrate that the nuclear armament of the country’s navy is progressing according to plan.
According to KCNA, the Choe Hyon was formally inducted into the North Korean navy following the ceremony and will be tasked with defending the country’s western coastline.
Since unveiling the vessel in April 2025, Kim has portrayed the Choe Hyon as a major step towards expanding the military’s operational reach and pre-emptive strike capabilities. KCNA has said the warship is equipped with a range of weapons systems, including anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles.
South Korean officials and defence experts have suggested the vessel was likely built with Russian assistance amid deepening military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. However, some analysts have questioned whether the destroyer is fully ready for active service.
North Korea has conducted a series of tests involving the Choe Hyon in recent months ahead of its deployment, including launches of what it described as nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the vessel.
“It has clearly become a thing of the past when our navy existed merely as a force for defending the sea off our land,” Kim said during Tuesday’s ceremony. “It is rising into a full-fledged service equipped with strategic means as the programme of equipping the navy with nuclear weapons proceeds steadily according to plan.”
After years of focusing on ballistic missile development, Kim has increasingly turned his attention to strengthening naval capabilities, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. Naval modernisation was also a key component of the military objectives he outlined at the Workers’ Party congress in February, which included plans for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launch.
Following a missile test aboard the Choe Hyon in March, Kim claimed that efforts to arm the navy with nuclear weapons would “constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century”.
State media did not elaborate on the remark, though some analysts believe North Korea may be preparing to formally declare a maritime boundary that could encroach on waters controlled by South Korea.
As tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to worsen, Kim has repeatedly rejected the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, a maritime boundary drawn by the US-led United Nations Command after the 1950–53 Korean War. The disputed boundary has been the site of several deadly naval clashes over the years.
North Korea unveiled a second destroyer of the same class as the Choe Hyon in May 2025, but the vessel was damaged during a botched launch at the northern port of Chongjin, prompting a furious response from Kim. The country later announced that the ship, named Kang Kon, had been relaunched in June following repairs, although outside experts have questioned whether it is fully operational.
During Tuesday’s speech, Kim said the Kang Kon would also enter active service soon. North Korea has additionally announced plans to build a larger 10,000-tonne destroyer.
Since the collapse of Kim’s nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump in 2019, North Korea has accelerated the expansion of its nuclear arsenal while deepening ties with both Russia and China. Although Pyongyang has maintained a hard-line stance towards South Korea, Kim has left open the possibility of renewed talks with Washington, while continuing to insist that the United States abandon denuclearisation as a precondition for negotiations.
Separately, South Korea’s military said on Wednesday that it had taken into custody an unidentified North Korean soldier who crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border on Tuesday night.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the soldier had expressed an intention to defect and that the relevant authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding the crossing.