North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended the navigation test of the Kang Kon destroyer, state media reported on June 6.
Kim boarded the Kang Kon on Thursday to assess its maneuvering and operational condition. He called for strengthening the navy's combat capabilities and nuclear deterrent. Building a powerful navy to reliably take charge of part of the nuclear war deterrent and strike the enemy under or on the water is the most important core task in the party's five-year national defense development policy, he said. Kim expressed confidence that modernization targets, including underwater secret weapons and 10,000-ton destroyers, would be surely carried out. He ordered the Choe Hyon and Kang Kon destroyers to be commissioned as soon as possible. Photos released by KCNA showed his daughter Ju-ae accompanying him. The 5,000-ton Kang Kon tipped over during its initial launch attempt in May last year and was repaired at the Rajin shipyard before being relaunched in June.
