New Delhi: Today, while most countries are focusing on modern drones, artificial intelligence and cyber warfare systems, North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is busy building a traditional but very aggressive naval fleet. Recently, Kim Jong Un personally observed cruise missile tests from the deck of North Korea’s new destroyer ‘Kang Kon’, a clear sign that Pyongyang is desperate to take its maritime capabilities to a new level.
The landing of the ‘Kang Kon’ destroyer is not only a military test for the North Korean Navy, but also a major psychological victory. This is the same warship which fell victim to a serious technical failure during its launching ceremony last year. It was partially overturned at the port itself. Kim Jong Un had expressed great displeasure over this incident and strongly reprimanded the officials. It was repaired in record time and launched into the sea again. Kim Jong Un has now given an ultimatum to make this ship completely war ready within the next 2 months without any delay.
Kim’s ‘five-year plan’ and huge warship
Kim Jong Un is not going to be satisfied with just one or two ships. Their naval plans are very aggressive and long term plans. Kim has instructed defense officials to build two new destroyers of this class (Choe Hyon-class) every year for the next 5 years.
The construction of huge 10,000 tonne class warships has also been included in North Korea’s pipeline. North Korea is moving rapidly towards equipping its navy with nuclear weapons. Recently tested cruise missiles are said to be capable of carrying nuclear payloads, which can directly pose a major threat to South Korea, Japan and US naval bases.
Why Bet on a Traditional Navy in the Drone Age?
In today’s modern battlefield, from the Ukraine-Russia war to the Middle East conflicts, remote-control drones and anti-ship missiles dominate, Kim Jong Un’s spending billions of dollars on huge destroyers astonishes the world. North Korea has two main strategies behind this.
First- to show off our sovereignty in maritime areas. To directly confront the US-backed South Korean Navy. Second- Kim Jong Un has always considered his navy to be the weakest part of his army. They want to bridge this gap as soon as possible and establish themselves as a complete nuclear powered country, which has the power to attack on all three fronts: land, air and sea.
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