Kim Jong-un Attends Commissioning of Warship That Once Tipped Over, Threatening to Use "Absolute Power"

[Anchor]

Amid a complex tangle of diplomatic and foreign affairs, North Korea's Kim Jong-un has unleashed a barrage of hardline remarks. At the commissioning ceremony of a new destroyer, he claimed that the "nuclear arming of the navy" has created a "balance of power" in the East Sea. He also threatened that North Korea would use "absolute power" if attacked.

Reporter Choi Jae-yeong has the details.

[Reporter]

This satellite image of North Korea's Chongjin Shipyard is from May of last year.

The 5,000-ton class destroyer Kang Gun-ho is seen tipped over on its side.

An accident occurred during the launching ceremony, and general secretary Kim Jong-un was furious at the time.

Yesterday (September 6), about 15 months later, Kim attended the commissioning ceremony of the Kang Gun-ho, boasting that the commissioning of the nuclear-armed destroyer has achieved a "balance of power" in the East Sea.

[Kim Jong-un / General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea : This is the issue that the enemy fears the most. It is the fact that the nuclear arming of our navy has been realized, making the use of deterrence more adaptable, diversified, and practical.]

He also issued a threat that if they are attacked, they will retaliate with nuclear weapons.

[Kim Jong-un / General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea : Should they attempt to use military force against us, I will order comrades to use absolute power that will be most fatal to the enemy.]

This is interpreted as an intention to clearly solidify self-defense capabilities through nuclear weapons, even amid dialogue offers from U.S. President Trump.

Kim also previewed that another measure to strengthen naval power will be unveiled in eight months.

[Kim Jong-un / General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea : We are currently executing important plans to strengthen our naval forces. I will prove that to the world once again in eight months.]

Kim visited the construction site of an 8,700-ton class nuclear-powered submarine in December of last year, raising speculation that it could be revealed then.

[Hong Min / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification : Aside from nuclear-propelled submarines and cruisers, nothing has been previewed or detected in terms of circumstances. Therefore, unveiling a nuclear submarine is considered the most likely scenario.]

At the commissioning ceremony of the Kang Gun-ho, Kim's daughter Ju-ae drew attention by sitting next to him dressed in a white suit.

(Video Editing: Park Chun-bae, Source: X (Airbus Defence and Space Open Source Center))
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.