SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea earlier this week conducted the first test-firing of the weapons system of the new “Choe Hyon-class” warship it recently unveiled, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Cruise and anti-air missiles were launched and artillery fired as part of the test-firing attended by leader Kim Jong Un and senior officials, the report said.
The time has come for North Korea’s navy to choose to accelerate nuclear armament for maritime sovereignty and for the sake of national defence, Kim was quoted as saying.
The intelligence agencies of South Korea and the U.S. were closely monitoring North Korea’s shipbuilding activities, an official at Seoul’s defence ministry said.
More work might be needed before the new naval destroyer could take to the sea under its own propulsion, said 38 North, a think tank focusing on North Korea, noting a satellite image of tug boats nudging the ship back towards a floating drydock.
“The use of tugboats to move the ship into place and back again could indicate the lack of a functioning propulsion system,” the think tank said.
North Korean state media on Saturday revealed the 5,000-tonne warship that it said was equipped with the “most powerful weapons.”
Kim, in a speech from the launch reported by KCNA, said the warship would be handed over to the navy and go into service early next year.
The “Choe Hyon-class” ship was named after anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon, according to KCNA.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Leslie Adler, Daniel Wallis and Ed Davies)
