Kim Jong Un slams warship launch failure as 'criminal act'

Key Highlights

• Launch Mishap: A North Korean warship launch failed, damaging the vessel.
• Kim’s Reaction: Kim Jong Un called it a “criminal act” and demanded urgent repairs.
• Broader Pattern: Follows recent military and civic failures in the country.

A serious accident took place at a warship launch in North Korea on Wednesday as the country’s leader Kim Jong Un was present and he called it an offense that could not be condoned, according to state media KCNA.

The day after the failed launch, Kim spoke out about the wreck, pointing to negligence as the cause and ruining the country's image and ordered workers to restore the ship prior to a party meeting scheduled for June, according to KCNA on Thursday. KCNA claimed the accident in Chongjin happened when the ship lost balance during launching, causing parts of the bottom to be flattened, though it did not provide other details of damage.

"Kim Jong Un made stern assessment saying that it was a serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility and could not be tolerated," KCNA reported.

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Kim stated that the incident destroyed "the pride and honor" of the country, so restoring the ship became a political, rather than a technical, matter.

The news of the accident came soon after Kim attended the launch of a similar destroyer at Nampho on April 17. North Korea suffered, for instance, repeated failures in space launches and terrible civic accidents which were, afterwards, promoted as showing the leadership’s and the Workers’ Party’s ability to solve challenges.

North Korea’s latest 5,000-ton destroyers are the nation’s largest naval vessels. A report from U.S.-based 38 North last week indicated that, unlike past launches, the accident ship would likely be transported out to the water from the side of the facility. Commercial images captured the day before the launch showed the destroyer docked on the quay surrounded by support vessels.