North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo.
Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program.
Photo: AFP
He added that the acquisition of a nuclear-powered submarine would be his next big step in strengthening his navy.
The new “multipurpose” destroyer, touted by state media as the first in a new class of heavily armed warships, is designed to handle various weapons systems, including anti-air and anti-naval weapons, as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles, Kim said, adding that the destroyer would be handed over to the navy early next year and begin active duty.
Kim criticized recent efforts by the US and South Korea to expand joint military exercises and update their nuclear deterrence strategies, portraying them as preparations for war. He vowed to “respond decisively to this geopolitical crisis and ongoing developments,” KCNA said.
Photo: AFP
North Korea’s unveiling of the new warship follows its revealing last month of a purported nuclear-powered submarine under construction. However, some experts question whether the impoverished and largely isolated nation could develop such advanced capabilities without foreign assistance.
Nuclear-powered submarines were among a broad list of advanced weapons that Kim pledged to develop at a major political conference in 2021, citing growing US-led threats. His wish list also included solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites and multi-warhead missiles. Since then, North Korea has conducted a series of tests aimed at acquiring these capabilities.
Regional tensions have increased as Kim continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, but the North has not responded to that offer.
While the two leaders met three times during Trump’s first term, negotiations broke down over disagreements on easing US-led sanctions in exchange for steps toward the North’s denuclearization.
Kim’s foreign policy focus has since shifted to Russia, which he has supplied with weapons and military personnel to support its warfighting in Ukraine.
South Korean officials are concerned that, in return, Pyongyang could receive economic aid and advanced military technology to further develop its weapons programs.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
RSS