SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has formally commissioned the country’s second naval destroyer, while renewing his call for a stronger and more dependable nuclear deterrent, state media said Monday. The move came as the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a trilateral military exercise that Pyongyang portrays as a threat to its security.
The warship’s entry into service adds to North Korea’s pressure campaign against Washington, following Pyongyang’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s decision to reduce the scale of a major U.S.-South Korea military drill in what was seen as a gesture aimed at easing tensions with Kim. Analysts say North Korea is seeking to secure broader concessions from the United States.
The destroyer Kang Kon was added to North Korea’s navy on Sunday during a ceremony in the eastern port city of Wonsan, attended by Kim and his teenage daughter, whom South Korea’s intelligence agency has described as his likely successor. Photos released by North Korean state media showed the girl, wearing a white dress and blazer, walking beside her father on a red carpet, touring the warship and posing with sailors.
The Kang Kon and the Choe Hyon, which was commissioned in June, are both 5,000-ton destroyers armed with nuclear-capable missiles, making them the most advanced warships in North Korea’s fleet.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Kim said the rapid addition of the two warships had struck fear into North Korea’s enemies, arguing that the navy’s nuclear armament would allow the country to deploy its nuclear deterrent in a more varied and practical way.
“Concerns of the enemies will be surely deepened,” Kim said. “We must establish more clearly a powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent, to put into practice the diverse and effective operation of our nuclear combat systems and further strengthen our military activities for maritime defense and war deterrence.”
On Monday, the U.S., South Korea and Japan kicked off their five-day Freedom Edge exercise in the waters off South Korea’s southern Jeju island. South Korea’s military said the exercise is defensive in nature and meant to enhance a joint response capability against North Korean nuclear threats. It said the exercise involves key maritime and aerial military assets of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
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Last week, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of more clearly expressing its confrontational posture against the North. It cited the Freedom Edge exercise and U.S. officials’ reported comments that the U.S. remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
On Aug. 21, the U.S. and South Korean militaries ended their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise six days earlier than originally planned, after Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the drill. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with Kim, who views the drill as an invasion rehearsal.
But Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, shrugged off Trump’s outreach, saying just shortening the drill won’t change its “provocative, aggressive nature.” North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently delivering on its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drill.
Kim Jong Un has previously said he could return to talks if the U.S. drops its “hostile policy” against North Korea and respects what he calls North Korea’s status as a nuclear state.
Kim and Trump’s earlier diplomacy collapsed in 2019 due to disputes on how much economic benefits North Korea should get in return for a limited denuclearization step. Now with his advancing nuclear program and deepened ties with Russia and China, experts say Kim has greater leverage than before.
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