North Korea has commissioned a 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon, as it seeks to expand its ability to project military power at sea.
North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un touted the new warship as a symbol of the country’s growing naval and nuclear capabilities, saying at the commissioning ceremony at the western port of Nampo that warships such as the Choe Hyon show that the nuclear armament of his navy is progressing as planned.
He was quoted by North Korean state media as saying that the introduction represented a new chapter in its military history, declaring that its navy has “put an end to over 70 years of its stagnation.” “In terms of military hardware, the navy was the weakest of all the services of our armed forces,” Kim said.
“Things have changed obviously now. The combat capability of our navy will grow to be admirable beyond imagination.”
Kim Jong Un
KCNA said that the Choe Hyon was formally placed into service with North Korea’s navy after the ceremony and will be tasked with defending the country’s western coast.
Since unveiling the ship in April 2025, Kim has portrayed the Choe Hyon as a major step toward expanding his military’s operational reach and preemptive strike capabilities. According to North Korean state media, the warship is equipped with a range of systems, including anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles.
North Korea has put the Choe Hyon through a series of tests in recent months ahead of its deployment, including launches of what it described as nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the vessel. “It has clearly become a thing of the past when our navy existed as a force for defending the sea off our land,” Kim said in a speech at the ceremony. He added, “It is rising into a full-fledged service equipped with strategic means as the program of equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons is following its planned course unerringly.”
In May 2025, North Korea unveiled a second destroyer in the same class as the Choe Hyon, but it was damaged during a botched launch at the northern port of Chongjin, prompting a furious response from Kim. The country later said that the ship, named Kang Kon, was relaunched in June after repairs, but outside experts have questioned whether it’s fully operational.
Kim stated during his speech that Kang Kon will also be entering service soon. North Korea also has separate plans to build a larger, 10,000-ton destroyer.
Kim said that the Choe Hyon will be the first ship of a modern North Korean fleet, with even bigger vessels coming. He alluded to difficulties along the way, saying the country’s naval buildup “is never plain sailing,” perhaps referring to the troubles of the Choe Hyon’s sister ship, the Kang Kon, which capsized during its launch in May 2025.
He called for North Korean shipyards to turn out two new surface ships a year, including cruisers double the size of the Choe Hyon.
North Korea Shifts More Focus Toward Naval Capabilities
After years of spurring ballistic missile development, Kim has shifted his focus more toward naval capabilities, including the ongoing construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. Naval capabilities were also a key focus when Kim outlined his five-year military goals at February’s Workers’ Party congress, which included calls for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launches.
Kim, following a missile test aboard the Choe Hyon in March, claimed that his efforts to arm his navy with nuclear weapons would “constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century.”
State media didn’t elaborate on what Kim meant, but some analysts say North Korea may be preparing to formally declare a maritime boundary that could encroach on waters controlled by rival South Korea.
South Korean officials and experts say the newly commissioned Choe Hyon was likely built with Russian assistance amid deepening military ties between the countries, but some analysts have questioned whether it’s ready for active service.
Since his nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019, Kim has accelerated the expansion of his nuclear arsenal and deepened ties with Moscow and Beijing. While maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, he has left the door open to renewed talks with Washington, repeating Pyongyang’s demand that the United States drop denuclearization as a precondition for reviving negotiations.
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