North Korea’s new 5,000-ton multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon is seen in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Yonhap) North Korea has deployed a new destroyer, state media reported Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong-un stressing that the push to establish a nuclear-armed navy was on course.According to the North’s state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun, the 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyun was deployed into active service on Tuesday.The paper quoted Kim as saying that the North Korean navy is growing into a branch that has “strategic assets” and that its nuclear armament was advancing according to plan.“This makes (North Korea’s) powerful and trustworthy nuclear deterrence clearer, and it is a very important strategic step in realizing multifaceted and effective operation of the nation’s nuclear weapons,” Kim was quoted as saying by the newspaper.Kim was also quoted as saying that the North Korean navy is now capable of deploying warships to any sea and “patrolling and carrying out preemptive attacks in seas where enemy nations’ military assets and bases are located.”The North Korean leader also revealed that another Choe Hyun-class destroyer will be deployed in the near future and that 10,000-ton destroyers will soon follow.Kim also hinted at plans to build a new naval base as he pushes for the modernization of North Korea’s navy, saying “the concern now is that there are no bases to moor such large warships.” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a commissioning ceremony for North Korea’s new multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon at a port in Nampo, North Korea on Tuesday. (KCNA via Yonhap) Some believe Kim's message is calculated and hints at larger ambitions.“It can be seen as the North's attempt to become a maritime power. The North had traditionally focused on military strategies typical of a continental nation, but is reinterpreting the seas as an arena for strategic pressure and survival of the regime,” Yu Ji-hoon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said, describing Pyongyang’s increasing shift to naval assets from ground-based assets.“North Korea emphasizing its naval power in this area (West Sea) not only has military implications but also has political goals: pressuring the South and the US, and creating an image as a maritime power.”