SEOUL/WASHINGTON – Notoriously secretive North Korea quickly owned up to the botched launch of a 5,000-ton naval destroyer ship that listed sideways in front of supreme leader Kim Jong Un because the mistake was too large to conceal, experts said.
State-run Korean Central Television, or KCTV, reported Thursday that the vessel lost stability during its launch at the shipyard in the northeastern port city of Chongjin, tipping into the water as the stern-side launch sled detached prematurely.
The ship had taken on water and suffered hull damage due to poor handling and “incompetent command,” the report said.
Kim Jong Un, who was at the launch, condemned Wednesday’s mishap in unusually strong language. He called it a “grave and unacceptable accident” caused by “carelessness, irresponsibility, and unscientific empiricism,” and described it as a “serious criminal act,” the state-run news agency reported.
He ordered the destroyer to be fully restored before the June plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party, stressing that the matter is not merely technical but one of political urgency and national dignity.
Mismanagement not sabotage
The leader’s tough rhetoric and its reporting by his regime’s media was an unusually forthright acknowledgment of negative news in the totalitarian country, but not without precedent.
Although North Korea is notoriously secretive, especially when it comes to internal failures, analysts have observed a notable shift under Kim Jong Un’s leadership. The regime has, on occasion, chosen to acknowledge major setbacks, such as failed satellite launches or economic shortcomings.
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, told Radio Free Asia that Pyongyang likely realized the ship launch failure was too visible to conceal, especially with commercial satellite imagery readily available.
“Kim’s characterization of the incident as a ‘criminal act’ likely refers to mismanagement, not sabotage,” Klingner said. “By admitting the failure, the regime is reframing it as a problem of leadership and discipline, rather than a technical deficiency.”
That fits into an emerging pattern. Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that just as Kim openly admitted a failed military satellite launch last year, his government now appears to be using such public acknowledgments as a strategic tool — turning failure into an opportunity to demonstrate resolve. By portraying recovery efforts as “patriotic struggles,” it seeks to reinforce internal unity and instill a renewed sense of loyalty among officials.
Kim Dong-yub said in a Facebook post that the unusually harsh reprimand may be aimed at repackaging the mishap as a test of loyalty — an opportunity for redemption through devotion to the leader.
A South Korean Unification Ministry official, briefing reporters on customary condition of anonymity, also commented that Kim’s directive to fully restore the damaged warship suggested it is not beyond repair, though it suffered serious structural harm.
Covered in blue tarp
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that U.S. and South Korean intelligence had been monitoring the launch preparations. They assessed the side-launch as a failure and noted the destroyer remains tipped over in the water.
“The destroyer is currently lying on its side,” said spokesperson Lee Sung-jun. He added that the ship’s design appears similar to the Choe Hyon Ho, a destroyer which was launched last month using a flotation method at the Nampo Shipyard. Wednesday’s launch was by a less common sideways or lateral method.
The two destroyers are North Korea’s most advanced naval vessels.
The first destroyer is designed to carry weapons systems including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles, state media reported last month. It was slated to enter active duty early next year and Kim Jong Un has supervised test-firings of missiles from the warship.
The U.K.-based security research institute Open Source Center (OSC) released satellite imagery showing the result of Wednesday’s botched launch on its X account. The photo shows approximately two-thirds of the ship’s hull exposed above the waterline, listing to its right side. A large blue tarp covers part of the vessel.
Missile launches
Shortly after news of the accident broke, North Korea launched multiple cruise missiles into the East Sea from near Seondeok in South Hamgyong province, according to the South Korean military. Authorities are analyzing the launch site and missile trajectories.
The cruise missile launch came just 14 days after a short-range ballistic missile launch on May 8 and may have been an attempt to reassert military confidence after the ship launch failure, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Edited by Mat Pennington.
