North Korea's Kim tours 'huge' warship, orders shipyard upgrades

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the construction of a new warship believed to be its latest cruiser and called for modernising the country's shipyards to build a powerful navy, state news agency KCNA said on Wednesday (Nov 4).

Kim gave field guidance during the visit to the Nampho Shipyard on the west coast on Monday and said expanding the capacity of the existing shipyards and increasing their operation rate was important to develop the country's marine industry for securing its sea border, according to KCNA.

He inspected the construction of a new warship "which is incomparably huge ... compared to the destroyer built last year," KCNA said.

North Korea is building its third Choe Hyon-class destroyer under Kim's five-year defence development plan, which aims to produce two surface warships every year.

Photos released by KCNA showed Kim and aides at the lower hull of a vessel supported by massive bilge blocks taller than the men that analysis by the Korea Defense and Security Forum said was the first published image of a 10,000-ton cruiser under construction.

The vessel likely will carry a significant number of cruise missiles that will allow longer-range ship-to-surface attack, the Seoul-based think-tank said.

Nampho is a major naval shipyard where the North has already constructed a destroyer that satellite images published in October showed is undergoing a major expansion.

North Korea has been developing its navy's missile capabilities in recent months, testing anti-ship missiles.

In July, Kim observed the test firing of a strategic cruise missile and evaluations of anti-ship systems aboard a naval destroyer. In April, North Korea test-fired anti-warship missiles to assess the efficiency of its destroyer.