North Korea has deployed its new 5,000-ton class destroyer, the 'Choe Hyon', for active service.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the commissioning ceremony for the Choe Hyon was held yesterday (June 23) at Nampo Port on the West Sea, with General Secretary Kim Jong-un in attendance.


Delivering a congratulatory speech, General Secretary Kim Jong-un stated, "Today is a day of great emotion that cannot be fully expressed in a hundred or a thousand words," adding that they achieved a "satisfactory result" through "the process of building and testing a destroyer for the first time in the history of building our military."

He went on to emphasize the significance of the day, calling it "the first page of a new naval history to defend our sacred maritime sovereignty with an invincible warship."

Kim said, "Our Navy has been granted the cruising range to advance into any waters, and is tasked with the duty of patrolling and preemptively establishing presence in waters where the military assets and bases of hostile nations are deployed," adding, "Our adversaries will witness the performance and might of our vessel with overwhelming fear and anxiety."

He also added, "Our current worry is that we do not have a base to moor such a large warship," calling it "a happy dilemma."

He then re-emphasized that the decision to build new bases for naval fleets had been made the previous day (June 22) during the 2nd Plenary Meeting of the 9th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Kim declared, "The nuclear armament of our Navy is precisely following its roadmap," and announced plans to deploy the 'Kang Kon' for operations soon, as well as launch 10,000-ton class strategic vessels into the sea. Furthermore, he claimed, "We are now transitioning to a stage where we can build and deploy various surface and underwater combat systems to coastal and deep-sea waters without any restrictions," expressing his ambition that "we will surely emerge as a defense powerhouse capable of demonstrating our national power in oceans thousands of kilometers away."


The news agency reported that Party Secretary Jo Chun Ryong had previously delivered a report on the progress of the commissioning preparations, and Minister of Shipbuilding Industry Kim Kwang Il handed over the delivery documents to the Navy.

It also reported that, "by authorization," the order of the Party Central Military Commission was read by Pak Jong Chon, Marshal of the Korean People's Army, and handed over to Navy Commander Admiral Pak Kwang Sop.

Senior Colonel Choe Kum Chol, the captain of the Choe Hyon, said, "Whenever an order is given, we will bravely advance into any operational waters as the Navy of Comrade Kim Jong-un."

General Secretary Kim presented binoculars in his name to the officers and soldiers as a commemorative gift.

The Choe Hyon "will be commissioned into the West Sea Fleet to carry out the honorable mission of defending the West Sea and deterring war," the news agency explained.

Ju Ae, who had accompanied Kim during the sea trials of the Choe Hyon and the Kang Kon, did not appear to have attended the commissioning ceremony on this day.