North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Choe Hyon, the latest 5.000-ton warship that he said was designed to "punish enemy provocations," state media reported today.
The Choe Hyon, unveiled by Pyongyang in April, is the country's first destroyer of its size equipped with nuclear missiles.
The launch of Choe Hyon is "a clear demonstration of the development of the armed forces oriented towards the Juche doctrine (North Korea's ideology of self-reliance)," the leader said, according to the official KCNA news agency.
"The stunning capabilities of our navy must be used in the vast ocean to deter or counter and punish hostile provocations for national sovereignty," Kim added.
The destroyer Choe Hyon is one of two 5.000-ton warships that North Korea has in its arsenal, both of which were completed this year.
Kim has pledged to build another destroyer of the same type by October 2026, to strengthen his naval capabilities.
According to the South Korean military, this ship could have been developed with Russian assistance, perhaps in exchange for the deployment of thousands of troops to help Moscow fight in Ukraine.
KCNA photos show the North Korean leader overseeing what appears to be a control room inside the ship, with screens showing the ocean around the Korean Peninsula. Another photo shows him pointing at a blurry map in front of a general.
The visit comes after Kim announced the deployment of "special means" against his southern neighbor, without specifying their nature, the KCNA news agency reported.
About 28.500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to counter military threats from Pyongyang. In September, they conducted joint military exercises with their South Korean and Japanese allies.
North Korea regularly denounces the exercises as rehearsals for invasion, while allies insist they are defensive in nature.
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