‘Catastrophic failure’: North Korea’s warship launch goes spectacularly wrong as Kim Jong Un promises to punish everyone involved

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to punish officials after the country’s newest warship partially capsized during what was supposed to be a celebratory launch ceremony. The incident, which Kim described as a catastrophic failure and criminal act, occurred at a shipyard in the northeastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday, with the North Korean leader present to witness the embarrassing mishap.

According to The Washington Post, the 5,000-ton destroyer, positioned as North Korea’s answer to America’s Aegis integrated naval system, was being launched sideways from the quay into the water when the accident occurred. During the side launch procedure, the stern of the vessel slid into the water first, crushing the hull and causing the ship to lose balance and partially capsize. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the vessel was lying on its side in the water on Thursday, with both South Korean and U.S. authorities having monitored the failed launch.

Kim Jong Un took the relatively rare step of publicly acknowledging the failure through state media, attributing the incident to absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism on the part of officials, scientists and shipyard workers involved in the project. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the incident brought the dignity and self-respect of the North Korean state to a collapse in a moment. The failure was particularly embarrassing for Kim since he had personally ordered the ship to be restored by a key meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party scheduled for late June.

North Korea fires cruise missiles hours after warship disaster

In the hours following the state media report about the warship accident, North Korea fired cruise missiles into waters east of the Korean Peninsula. The timing of the missile launch appeared to follow the pattern of North Korean responses to perceived humiliations or setbacks, though officials did not explicitly link the two events.

The damaged vessel appears to be a second Choe Hyon-class warship, following the first one that North Korea unveiled with considerable fanfare in April. Named after a Korean guerrilla fighter who battled Japanese forces in the 1930s and was a friend of North Korea’s founder, the Choe Hyon represents the country’s largest warship. Kim Jong Un has promoted the ship’s antiaircraft, anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-ballistic missile capabilities as part of his broader military modernization efforts.

Military experts suggest the accident reveals significant problems with North Korea’s naval development program. The use of a side launch method was unusual for North Korea and may have been necessary because the quay where the ship was built lacks an incline for traditional launches. Satellite images from the previous week had shown the destroyer preparing for the side launch, raising questions about whether adequate preparation and testing had been conducted before the ceremony.

The incident is expected to set back North Korea’s naval modernization program by several months at minimum. Naval analysts estimate it will take two to five weeks just to right the capsized vessel, followed by extensive cleanup and repair operations. The hull likely flooded with seawater, requiring workers to purge salt water and sediment from machinery and electrical equipment before repairs can begin. Both the slipway and the ship’s hull will require extensive reconstruction, representing a significant setback for Kim Jong Un’s efforts to upgrade his nuclear-capable arsenal and modernize the navy.