North Korea claims warship launch successful on second try

North Korea says it has successfully relaunched its new 5,000-ton naval destroyer, less than a month after it capsized during the first attempted launch, state media reports.

The country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had reacted furiously to the warship’s failed launch in May, and demanded it be quickly repaired.

At least four officials – three shipyard officials and one senior official – have since been arrested over the incident.

State media says the ship has now been fully restored. But given how quickly it has been relaunched, experts are questioning whether the repairs are really complete.

Kim and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, oversaw Tuesday’s launch at Rajin Port in the country’s north, according to KCNA, which published photos of them at the event.

This warship is one of two brand new 5,000-ton naval destroyers North Korea has built over the past year and launched since April.

They are now the biggest ships Pyongyang has in its fleet and are capable, in theory, of launching nuclear weapons.

Kim has made it a priority to develop a nuclear-armed navy, and says he plans to build two more of these destroyers in the coming year.

Satellite photos over the past few weeks showed the capsized ship in the harbour, before it was moved to a repair site, and then being refloated in the water, before it was moored at the pier.

According to KCNA, Kim spoke at Friday’s event, saying that the initial failed launch had not set back the North’s military modernisation programme.

“Soon, enemies will experience how provocative and unpleasant it is to sit and watch the ships of an adversary run rampant on the fringes of sovereign waters,” it quoted him as saying.