SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised tests of a nuclear-capable cruise missile and other weapons aboard a new 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, repaired after being damaged in a failed launch ceremony last year, state media said Sunday, in the latest military display marking Kim’s push to build a nuclear-armed navy. The official Korean Central News Agency said Friday’s event included test-firings of a strategic cruise missile and of the Kang Kon’s main gun and automatic cannons, as well as trials of its electronic warfare systems and assessments of its target-detection and information-processing capabilities.After observing the tests from shore, Kim ordered officials to complete the destroyer’s trials and place the vessel in active duty within two months, the state news agency said.The tests came after North Korea in late June commissioned its first 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon, a milestone Kim marked with a lavish ceremony where he declared that the nuclear armament of his navy was proceeding as planned.
After years of prioritizing ballistic missile development, Kim has increasingly turned his focus to naval capabilities, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. While outlining his five-year military goals at February’s Workers’ Party congress, Kim also called for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launches.
