North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday.
Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.”
Photo: Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies - EPA/EFE
Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said.
Ri is the fourth person reportedly detained in connection with the accident, following the detention of three individuals over the weekend, including the chief engineer at the shipyard.
KCNA reported on Friday last week that shipyard manager Hong Kil-ho had been summoned by law enforcement
“At the scene of the destroyer launch accident, the work for completely restoring the balance of the warship is being actively conducted,” KCNA said, adding that it is done “according to its schedule.”
The South Korean military said that Washington and Seoul’s intelligence authorities had assessed that North Korea’s “side-launch attempt” of the ship failed, and the vessel was left listing in the water.
However, KCNA reported that an “underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, unlike the initial announcement, there were no holes made at the warship’s bottom,” calling the extent of the damage “not serious.”
The South Korean military estimated that based on its size and scale, the warship is similarly equipped to the destroyer-class vessel Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled last month.
The South Korean military has said that the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help, possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.
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