Kim Jong-un unveils new 5000-tonne warship ‘with nuclear-capable ballistic missiles’ in chilling warning to West
Kim Jong-un has unveiled North Korea’s largest ever warship which could be capable of firing nuclear missiles.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled his country’s largest naval destroyer that could house a vertical launch pad capable of firing nuclear missiles.
The mighty 5000-tonne warship is expected to substantially boost North Korea’s naval capabilities in a chilling warning to the West, The Sun reports.
North Korea’s state media – which also serves as Kim’s leading propaganda machine – reported that the vessel was equipped with the “most powerful weapons”.
The ship has been graded as the “Choe Hyon-class”, named after anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon, the report said.
And at more than 5000 tonnes, the destroyer is set to become the largest warship in North Korea’s naval arsenal, surpassing the current largest vessel, a 1360-tonne frigate.
It was previously reported that North Korea’s new class of warship was able to accommodate dozens of vertical launch cells to carry missiles that its military has already developed.
Military analysts say these launchers will be capable of firing guided cruise missiles, which North Korea says could carry nuclear warheads.
Footage from North Korea’s state-run television KRT showed Kim arriving in Nampho with his daughter Ju Ae after travelling to the western port city by train.
Kim, in a speech from the launch reported by North Korean news agency KCNA, said the warship would be handed over to the navy and go into service early next year.
In a chilling threat to the West, the tyrant said: “If the U.S. continues to renew its record in the protests of military power, we will have no choice but to renew it in the exercise of strategic deterrence.”
Kim also said strong pre-emptive attack capabilities were the most “convincing war deterrent” and that there was no limit to the scope of such attacks.
“The security environment of our country is very serious right now,” the leader was quoted as saying by KCNA while vowing to build a fleet for open-sea operations.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong-un, also appeared in the TV footage.
Vice-Admiral Pak Kwang Sop said the launch, which took place on Friday at the military shipbuilding dockyard of Nampho, marked a new era of the “great Kim Jong-un-style fleet building”.
It comes just weeks after bombshell satellite images revealed the giant sea vessel under construction in a shipyard on the country’s west coast.
Pictures showed the weapon systems that would help the ship fire missiles at targets on both land and sea, according to analysts.
Kim’s forces appear to be building the menacing ship despite heavy international sanctions against North Korea.
But his relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin could be helping him get around the sanctions, analysts claim.
The two dictators have been deepening military ties since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
North Korea is widely reported to have supplied weapons to Russia since the invasion, as well as sending troops to fight in Kursk.
Other pictures of the ship were featured on the state-run Korean Central Television earlier this year, in which Kim was seen inspecting its construction.
It comes as part of a drive by North Korea to modernise its military, including building new tanks and submarines.
A new nuclear-powered submarine unveiled last month has stoked fears that North Korea is advancing tech that could allow them to strike the US with ballistic missiles.
While North Korea is estimated to have around 400 patrol boats and 70 submarines according to a US Defense Intelligence Agency report, many of them are old and small.
Kim has also been pictured firing a “new sniper rifle” during a visit to watch his special forces training at a military base.
North and South Korea are officially still at war with each other, even though fighting in the Korean War ended in 1953.
Kim’s forces blew up roads connecting the two Korean nations late last year, a symbol of further worsening relations.
It comes as Kim also unveiled North Korea’s first ever nuclear-powered submarine which could strike the West with nuke missiles.
Pictures released by the state media – known to be Kim’s propaganda machine – show the mighty submarine being built at a naval facility.
The tyrant was snapped with his goons at a shipbuilding facility inspecting the construction of the vessel.
Analysts say, based on the images of the unfinished vessel, that the naval vessel could be a 6000-ton-class or 7000-ton-class one which can carry about 10 missiles.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Kim Jong-un unveils new 5000-tonne warship ‘with nuclear-capable ballistic missiles’ in chilling warning to West
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