North Korea reports “serious” accident involving newly built destroyer

North Korea has reported a serious accident during the launch of a newly built 5,000-ton destroyer at a shipyard, during a ceremony attended by Kim Jong Un, according to state media.

The incident occurred on Wednesday at the Chongjin Shipyard. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the warship sustained structural damage after a technical failure in the launch sequence caused the stern to slide prematurely and become stranded, while the bow failed to move off the shipway.

Some sections of the warship’s bottom were crushed, causing a loss of balance that prevented a full launch, according to KCNA, which did not say whether there were any casualties.

Kim Jong Un described the incident as a “serious accident and criminal act” caused by “absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism,” and adding that it “could not be tolerated.”

Officials from the Munitions Industry Department, Kim Chaek University of Technology, the State Academy of Sciences, and the Chongjin Shipyard were specifically named as culprits in the statement, which said they would be “dealt with” at the June plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee.

Kim called the immediate restoration of the destroyer a political priority, saying it must be completed “unconditionally” before the plenary session. He added that the incident damaged the “dignity and self-respect” of the state.

North Korea rarely discloses accidents or operational failures. Some of the few publicly acknowledged incidents include a 2014 apology for an apartment building collapse in Pyongyang, the 2013 admission of fatalities in a warship sinking, and a 2015 report that 14 pilots died in the failed 2009 launch of a satellite.

State media did not identify the warship involved in the accident. On April 29, KCNA reported that North Korea had begun performance and combat testing on a new destroyer named Choi Hyeon, though it remains unclear whether the vessel involved in Wednesday’s incident is the same one.