North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced plans to equip the navy with nuclear weapons and construct military ships weighing 10,000 tonnes, state media reported on Wednesday.
Kim made the announcement on Tuesday in the North Korean city of Nampo during the commissioning of the Choe Hyon, one of the two 5,000-tonne warships launched by Pyongyang last year, the official KCNA news agency stated.
“The programme to equip the navy with nuclear weapons is progressing as planned,” Kim said at the event.
He described the strategy as critical for ensuring that North Korea’s nuclear force is prepared for diverse and effective operations.
Earlier, Pyongyang stated that the Choe Hyon was armed with the “most powerful weapons,” and that Kim personally oversaw inspections, including a missile test from the vessel in April.
Kim revealed that following the Choe Hyon, the Kang Kon destroyer will soon be operational, with plans to launch 10,000-tonne strategic warships in sequence.
He outlined an annual goal of constructing two advanced surface ships, one of which will be a 10,000-tonne vessel.
Ships of this size, comparable to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers owned by the United States and South Korea’s Sejong the Great-class, typically measure 150 to 170 metres—roughly the length of one and a half football fields.
At a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Monday, Kim pledged to bolster the country's defence capabilities, citing military modernisation efforts by South Korea and the United States as pushing the region “to the brink of nuclear war.”
