LONDON — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a “serious accident” affecting the launch of the country’s newest warship on Wednesday “was a criminal act caused by pure carelessness,” the country’s state media reported.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that the launch failed after the vessel became stuck on its launching sled and tipped, causing damage to the bottom of the ship. The incident occurred at the Cheongjin shipyard in the northeast of the country.
Kim — who was present for the launch of the 5,000-ton destroyer — “made a stern assessment that this was a serious accident that could not have happened, could not be tolerated, and was a criminal act caused by pure carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism,” KCNA reported.
Kim “sternly warned” several government bodies and institutions, KCNA said, including the Department of Munitions Industry, the Institute of Dynamics of the State Academy of Sciences, Kim Chaek University of Technology and the Central Ship Design Institute.
A satellite image shows the new North Korean warship at harbor before launch, in Chongjin, North Korea, on May 18, 2025.
Maxar Technologies/via Reuters
Kim said those responsible would be “dealt with” at a meeting of the Party Central Committee next month, KCNA said.
The ship launched on Wednesday is the second of North Korea’s new destroyers. The first — the Choe Hyon — was unveiled in April.
During a ceremony to launch the Choe Hyon at the port of Nampo on the country’s western coast, Kim said the ship’s construction represented “a breakthrough” in North Korea’s naval modernization.
Kim also said he “intends to build a blue-water operational fleet” — meaning a force capable of operating in open ocean rather than solely in the coastal waters around the Korean Peninsula.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.