North Korea relaunches warship that suffered embarrassing failure during initial launch

Fox News

15-06-2025

North Korea has repaired and relaunched their 5,000-ton warship after a botched launch in May, according to North Korean state media.
The second warship was once again upright in the water, according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.
The communist country's leader, Kim Jong Un, was in attendance to give a speech and spoke about the failed launch.
"Of course, we felt panic-stricken in front of the unexpected and ridiculous accident caused while launching this destroyer in Chongjin last month," Kim said.
Kim did not take the accident lightly, going as far as to call it a criminal act, according to KCNA.
"We judged the accident not as a simple mistake but as a never-to-be-forgiven, serious criminal act that lowered the dignity and self-respect of our state in a moment, and investigated the root cause of the accident in a comprehensive way," Kim said.
In fact, the chief engineer of the Chongjin Shipyard, along with others, were arrested according KCNA.
However, this setback hasn't seemed to slow down Kim's ambitions as he promised more warships to come.
"Warships of a new generation are to be launched one after another in the coming years, and they will form the backbone of our maritime defense forces," Kim said.
The ship, which Kim has reportedly named "Kang Kon," was moved to the Rajin shipyard after being set up right, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The total extent of the damage to the ship is unknown as it never left the dry dock.
Satellite images previously released by South Korea had shown the ship lying on its side.
Reported previously by KCNA, the "Kang Kon" had slipped off of its ramp and became stuck.
The flatcar failed to move alongside the ship, throwing it off balance and crushing parts of the ship's bottom.
This caused the massive warship's stern to slide down the launch slipway, making the ship's bow section unable to leave the ramp, according to KNCA.
The "Kang Kon" was the second naval destroyer launched within a month after Kim attended the successful launch of another 5,000-ton destroyer from Nampo, a port on the west coast of North Korea.
Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan and Landon Mion contributed to this story.