North Korea's ambitious naval expansion drive was dealt a severe setback last week when a just-completed 5,000-ton guided missile destroyer overturned on its launch at the Chongjin shipyard. The launch technique — launching the ship sideways down into the water — was a first for North Korea's military shipbuilding and eventually proved catastrophic. The ship lost balance during the launch, with satellite images indicating the warship resting on its right side, tarped over, with the bow wedged on the ramp and the rear submerged in the harbour.
Pressure to impress could have motivated dangerous decisions
Leader Kim Jong-un was said to have witnessed the launch, watching from a platform specially erected for the occasion. His hands-on management, as well as recent successful launches at the better-equipped Chongjin shipyards such as Nampo, probably put enormous pressure on Chongjin engineers to emulate the success with much fewer resources. South Korean military analysts say the engineers probably took shortcuts in order to meet the deadline, producing faulty implementation of a tricky launch method that requires perfect balance—particularly with heavy weapons already mounted on the ship, the New York Times reported.
Poor facilities at Chongjin prevented proper implementation
Unlike the Nampo shipyard, which utilised a floating dry dock and vertical water displacement to launch its destroyer, Chongjin did not have such facilities. Engineers instead built the destroyer directly on the quay and attempted to launch it sideways—a method requiring advanced calculations and experience. Analysts said the shipyard had traditionally built much smaller vessels and lacked expertise in launching large warships. This was compounded by inadequate equipment and the absence of support structures like an inclined ramp or large dry dock.
Immediate fallout and arrests
After the disastrous rollout, Kim was said to have designated the failure as a crime. State media reported the detention of three shipyard administrators, including the chief engineer and a top munitions officer. The severe reaction both indicates the strategic importance Kim places on modernising the North Korean fleet and the humiliation the debacle visited upon the regime.
A symbol of Kim's aspirations now sits capsized
The overturned ship was meant to be a twin of the Choe Hyun destroyer, which was last month launched in a ceremony with great fanfare witnessed by Kim and his daughter. That warship had displayed successful missile launches and was hailed as a big achievement in overhauling North Korea's aging Soviet-era fleet. This second ship is now at an angle and wrecked, its shape in worse shape than acknowledged by state media, outside experts say. Others claim that the ship looks structurally flawed, but perhaps bent by the failed launch or perhaps badly designed in the first place.
North Korea promises repairs but doubts linger
State media reports repairs will be done within ten days, including seawater drainage and hull realignments. But analysts such as Yang Uk of Seoul's Asan Institute doubt the possibility of complete repair, citing evidence of deeper structural imbalance. The failed launch highlights North Korea's catching up with growth pains as it tries to speed up military development without the technical basis or resources necessary to produce and deploy large naval assets.
Kim's naval aspirations ride turbulent seas
Kim's vision for an expanded and refurbished navy with more guided missile destroyers and large warships has hit rough seas after the latest failure. This incident has created severe scepticism about North Korea's ability to produce and launch such ships on a reliable basis. Unless the regime invests in improved infrastructure and engineering expertise—or softens its schedule—it stands to repeat expensive failures, both politically and militarily, both domestically and internationally.
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