North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced that his country was supplying the navy with "nuclear weapons" during the inauguration of a warship, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.
Jong Un said there were plans to build 10,000-ton warships during the inauguration of the Choi Hyun warship, one of two 5,000-ton warships launched by nuclear-armed countries last year, in the coastal city of Nambo, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
"The Navy's nuclear weapons supply program is proceeding ahead on schedule," Kim said during the ceremony, adding that "this is a strategic path of great importance because it will enable us to maintain the readiness of our nation's nuclear power for multifaceted and effective operations."
North Korea has previously said the Choi Hyun destroyer is equipped with "the most powerful weapons," while Kim has conducted several inspection tours of its class this year, including supervising a test launch of a cruise missile from Choi Hyun in April.
"After Choi Hyun, we will soon enter service with the destroyer Kang Kun, after which we will launch the 10,000-ton strategic warships one by one," Kim said in his speech.
Under his plan, he said, "North Korea is supposed to build two surface ships per year of a higher class than Choi Hyun, including a 10,000-ton cruiser," stressing that "the era when our navy was just a tasked force defending the waters off our coast is gone and is a thing of the past."
Photos posted by the North Korean Central News Agency showed Kim giving a military salute during Choi Hyun's departure alongside senior officials, delivering his speech from aboard the newly entered warship.
20 cells for ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads
The North Korean destroyer Choi Hyun is the largest warship built by Pyongyang to date, weighing 5,000 tons and measuring 140–145 meters long, and is designed to be a long-range attack platform capable of operating outside the range of conventional coastal defenses.
The ship includes 74 vertical launch cells, including 20 for ballistic missiles with tactical nuclear warheads, in addition to long-range cruise missiles that underwent a successful launch test last April .
Satellite imagery showed engineering modifications including increased missile capacity and the removal of key guns, as well as modern engines and radars to the ship amid Western assessments that Pyongyang may receive technical support from Moscow. Choi Hyun is classified as a multi-role destroyer capable of countering both air and sea threats.
These naval capabilities give North Korea an additional deterrent against joint military moves by Washington and Seoul, and impose a greater missile burden on air defense systems in the Yellow Sea and Pacific, making it one of the most prominent strategic additions to Pyongyang's fleet in recent years.
Seoul outperforms its northern neighbor
South Korea's navy has more than 10 5,000-ton ships, compared with North Korea's only two, and Washington is deploying about 28,500 troops to South Korea to help Seoul defend itself against military threats from Pyongyang.
Pyongyang says it has become an "irreversible" nuclear state, especially after the 2019 summit between Kim and Trump failed to resolve the nuclear weapons and sanctions file.
The two Koreas are still practically at war, with their conflict ending in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
South Korea detains North Korean soldier after crossing border
Seoul has detained a North Korean soldier after he crossed the border this week in what is believed to be an attempted defection, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.
"The military detained a North Korean soldier on the Central Front on Tuesday night, and specialized authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the details," Yonhap quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul as saying in a letter to the media.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, most of them heading overland first to neighbouring China, then entering a third country such as Thailand before eventually reaching South Korea.
Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare, as the area is covered in dense forest and filled with landmines and is monitored by soldiers on both sides.
More than 34,000 North Koreans have fled the country to the South, according to data from South Korea's Unification Ministry, and in 2024, 236 North Koreans arrived in South Korea, with 88 percent of them women.
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