Special Event Representing Significant Breakthrough in Modernization of Navy in New Era Ceremony of Launching Destroyer of KPA Navy Takes Place with Splendour

 

Pyongyang, April 26 (KCNA) -- The tremendous strength of Juche Korea, which confidently attains the phased goals for building a rich country with a strong army through the first arduous journey and vigorous stride of great pioneering along the milestone of victory indicated by the ever-victorious Workers’ Party of Korea, is ushering in a grand new era of an advanced maritime power while powerfully reaching out to the vast ocean.

A new entity has emerged to firmly guarantee the maritime sovereignty of the DPRK, demonstrating the prestige of a powerful country rising bravely despite all difficulties, the irresistible might of the indomitable, tenacious and intrepid Korean people and the modernity of the Juche-oriented naval force making rapid progress.

The birth of the new-type multi-mission destroyer, which is an ensemble of the state economy and an aggregate of self-reliant defence technology and which is equipped with the powerful cutting-edge strike weapon systems of the Korean style which do not allow comparison, is a brilliant fruition of the iron faith and will and outstanding leadership of the great Comrade Kim Jong Un, who indicated the path for rapidly developing the naval force of the DPRK into a powerful treasured sword for defending justice and peace and a service equipped with the comprehensive fighting power with nuclear weapons as the main axis and is dynamically steering the rejuvenation of the warship-building industry, and a valuable victory won by the strong aspiration and indomitable advance of the Korean people to outpace the world with the conviction in their own strength and courageous struggle.

A ceremony of launching the newly-built destroyer was held with splendour at the Nampho Shipyard on April 25, the significant founding anniversary of the first armed forces of the Korean revolution, in the presence of Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Present at the ceremony were senior Party, government and military officials, the workers of the Nampho Shipyard and officials and researchers in the field of the warship-building industry who contributed to building the destroyer, officers and men of the Navy of the Korean People’s Army, discharged navy generals, teaching staff and students of Kim Jong Suk Naval University, commanding officers of the services and corps of the KPA and leading officials of ministries and national agencies.

The venue of the ceremony was full of the ardent reverence for the great Party Central Committee which has firmly consolidated the absolute might and irreversible superiority of the DPRK’s armed forces by dynamically leading the rapid development of the revolution in national defence industry for the prosperity of our country and its long-term development and fully realized the centuries-old desire of the Korean people to have the strongest naval force.

The guard of honour of the KPA Navy solemnly lined up waiting for the moment of glory.

When the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un arrived at the venue of the ceremony, all the participants broke into enthusiastic cheers looking up to the great revolutionary and ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander who is vigorously ushering in a new era of building a rich country with a strong army, bringing the dignity and prestige of our state and people onto the highest peak of the century with his outstanding revolutionary ideas, matchless pluck and round-the-clock devotion.

There was a ceremony of greeting the head of state.

Kim Jong Un reviewed the colours of honour of the KPA Navy and its guard of honour.

He was courteously greeted by Senior Admiral Kim Myong Sik, commander of the KPA Navy, other major commanding officers of the Navy and commanding officers of the east and west sea fleets of the Navy and their affiliated underwater and surface warship squadrons with boundless reverence for him.

There was a march-past of the guard of honour of the KPA Navy.

Kim Jong Un took the platform followed by senior officials of the Party, government and military, the commander of the Navy, commanders of the east and west sea fleets of the Navy, the manager of the Nampho Shipyard and others.

Officials of the Party Central Committee, chief secretaries of provincial committees of the WPK, the officials, persons of merit and labour innovators who contributed to the building of the warship and commanding officers of the services and corps of the KPA took the seats for invited guests.

The national anthem of the DPRK was solemnly played.

Jo Chun Ryong, secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, delivered a commemorative address.

He said: The 5 000-tonnage destroyer, which is equipped with the most powerful weapons and which has been built by the workers in the field of our warship-building industry, is to record a sacred new name of the defender in the blue sea of the country. It is a very encouraging reality and an event marking decisive progress in the course of strengthening the war capability of the Navy that we have perfectly built the modern destroyer in a little over 400 days with our own strength and technology.

The new-type destroyer, which was born as an imposing creation symbolizing the strength and spirit of Korea, is the fruition of the great patriotic idea of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un and his will to build a rich country with a strong army and a precious entity in which every metre of the hull and every piece of equipment are permeated with the sacred responsibility for the revolution as the soul.

Today came to be recorded not only as a day when a new era of the warship-building industry was opened but also as a day when a new start was made by the workers and officials of our munitions industry, the speaker noted, adding that a brilliant golden age of the DPRK Navy will be brought about and the historic picture of the DPRK’s arms demonstrating their might as the treasured sword for defending justice and peace will steadily spread out as the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un leads our struggle in the van.

Yun Chi Gol, manager of the Nampho Shipyard, made a speech in reply.

He proudly reported that the workers of the Nampho Shipyard are prepared for presenting the first new-generation destroyer of the DPRK to the Ninth Congress of the WPK as a gift of patriotic loyalty by honourably implementing the decision of the Eleventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK on building modern destroyer.

The latest warship is a precious creation of the revolution in the warship-building industry floated by the iron faith and will and outstanding strategy of Kim Jong Un, who cherishes the great ambition to turn our country into an advanced maritime power, not merely by the buoyancy of nature, he said, adding that in the course of building the warship the way of thinking and manner of work of officials and employees have been changed, powerful ranks of technicians and skilled workers built up and scientific and advanced warship building technology and processes established.

He solemnly pledged that the Nampho Shipyard would become the pacemaker and engine of the revolution in the warship-building industry in the new era faithfully upholding the strategic plan of the Party Central Committee with practice and thus glorify forever the honour of the revolutionary industry group by taking the core position in the development of the shipbuilding industry of the country and perfectly carrying out any warship building task entrusted by the Party.

Pak Jong Chon announced a written order of the Central Military Commission of the WPK on the grading regulations, name and number of the new-type multi-mission destroyer and conveyed it to the commander of the East Sea Fleet of the KPA Navy.

On the order of the Central Military Commission of the WPK signed by Kim Jong Un, the newly built new-type 5 000-tonnage multi-mission destroyer was graded and classified as the Choe Hyon class and named after the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon, a model military activist who had made boundless loyalty to the leader part of his mental qualities, an elder of the armed forces of the DPRK and a veteran general.

Kim Jong Un conferred the ensign of destroyer Choe Hyon on the commanding officers of the East Sea Fleet of the KPA Navy.

Vice Admiral Pak Kwang Sop, commander of the East Sea Fleet, made a speech of pledge.

Referring to the honour of the Navy of clearly recording as a blueprint in the history of army building its true appearance as a service commensurate with the prestige of a military power, he said that the earnest desire for the most powerful arms to overwhelmingly smash the naval supremacy of the arrogant imperialist pirates has been fulfilled in the glorious era of holding Kim Jong Un in high esteem.

Saying that the position of our Navy will surely be in the distant future five or ten years from today when the era of the great Kim Jong Un-style fleet building has started, he, on behalf of all the officers and men of the Navy, extended warm gratitude and militant salute to Kim Jong Un who is ushering in the greatest heyday in the strengthening of the Navy and to the heroic workers of the shipyard and the relevant field that are upholding the Party’s grand plan for building the naval force with ardent loyalty and worthwhile struggle.

He, on the honour of the army of the WPK and seaman of the DPRK, solemnly pledged to fully demonstrate the honour of the fleet which has taken the most responsible battlefield for the great revolutionary cause and for defending the country by making all efforts to bolster up the combat capability of the warship and round off the war preparations of the fleet and preparing to be a navy which smashes the enemy unconditionally in every battle.

No Kwang Chol, minister of National Defence of the DPRK, cut the rope in token of the ceremony of launching the destroyer.

Amid the sound of the warship whistle at the naval port, a powerful entity revealed its magnificent appearance in the sea of the country signalling the advent of a new era of modernization of the Navy. And confetti and coloured tapes were poured out, fireworks were set off and balloons flew up, reflecting the excitement and joy of this historic moment.

Kim Jong Un mounted the destroyer.

The warship had the honour of undergoing the first inspection by the head of state.

After receiving the salute of the captain, Kim Jong Un met with seamen and gave them warm militant encouragement, going round the stem and quarter deck of the warship.

The memorial relief image of anti-Japanese revolutionary fighter Choe Hyon was unveiled on the destroyer.

Kim Jong Un placed a flower before the relief image of Choe Hyon and paid high tribute to him.

He said that the absolute loyalty to the leader and the spirit of unconditionally implementing the orders and instructions of the leader constitute the core of the revolutionary traits and military temperament of Choe Hyon, adding that the seas of the country will remain unperturbed and the ever-victorious tradition will continuously be carried forward when the reputation and noble soul of the veteran general whose mere name used to strike horror into the hearts of the two imperialist powers become the symbol of invincibility and militant banner of our Navy.

Kim Jong Un got off the warship and met the meritorious persons of the Nampho Shipyard who contributed to the building of the destroyer.

He highly appreciated that the historic event which can be called a new birth of the Juche-oriented navy could be brought about thanks to the patriotic and inexhaustible efforts and enthusiasm of the workers, scientists and technicians of the Nampho Shipyard who are supporting the strategic line and policies on building up the national defence clarified by the WPK with absolute loyalty and devoted efforts.

The workers, scientists and technicians in the field of the warship-building industry raised enthusiastic cheers, extending the greatest glory to Kim Jong Un who placed them at the vanguard of the struggle for accomplishing the sacred cause of strengthening the naval force of the DPRK radically and by leaps and bounds to suit the national prestige and status of a powerful country and is ushering in a new era of the rejuvenation of the warship-building industry with his energetic leadership.

He awarded commemorative copper coins to the commanders and other officers of the destroyer, wishing the destroyer Choe Hyon would perform distinguished feats and enjoy boundless glory.

Kim Jong Un made a historic speech on the occasion of the ceremony of launching the destroyer.

Expressing the historic significance and deep emotion of declaring the launch of the new-generation multi-mission attack destroyer No. 1, which is indispensable in building up our capability for stoutly defending the maritime sovereignty of the DPRK and which will represent an important starting point of the journey towards building an advanced maritime power, on April 25, the birthday of the first revolutionary armed forces of Korea, Kim Jong Un extended militant encouragement to the workers, technicians and officials of the Nampho Shipyard who successfully built the new-type destroyer true to the Party’s line of strengthening the naval force, and to the scientists, technicians and workers in the field of the shipbuilding industry who are struggling as the main force of the revolution in the warship-building industry in the new era.

After making a stern analysis of the situation in the vicinity which poses a very serious threat to the security environment of the DPRK, he said that the strength to launch aggression is directly proportional to the strength to prevent it, and set forth the plan of the WPK to radically bolster up the war capability of the Navy in line with the justness and necessity of the possession of pelagic fleet, the prerequisite for national security and the world trend of developing the naval force and the detailed ways for implementing the plan.

His speech is an immortal great programme which is of great theoretical and practical significance in leading the revolution in the warship-building industry in the new era to a steady upsurge and remarkably strengthening the DPRK Navy into a core service for national defence and a component of nuclear war deterrent.

When Kim Jong Un finished his commemorative speech, all the participants broke into the thunderous cheers of “Hurrah!” out of boundless excitement and ardent loyalty, which resounded into the vast sea.

Kim Jong Un had a significant photo session with all the commanding officers and seamen of the destroyer Choe Hyon against the background of the warship.

He expressed great expectation and conviction that all the seamen of the destroyer would steadfastly carry forward the indomitable faith and tradition of victory cherished by the pioneering generation of the Korean revolution and thus become the brave warriors of the sea fully guaranteeing the prosperity of the country and the peace and happiness of the people by force of arms and create a new legendary tale of heroes of the Juche-oriented navy.

All the commanding officers and seamen of the destroyer made a firm pledge to enhance the reputation as a matchless warship demonstrating the invincible valour in defending the territorial waters of the country, looking up to the great brilliant commander who gave them the strongest treasured sword unprecedented in the naval force of the country and personally mounted the warship to wish them distinguished military feats and instil the spirit of sure victory into them.

Kim Jong Un had a photo session also with officials and persons of merit of the shipyard and institute who made contributions to building the destroyer.

On the day, there were a banquet given by the KPA Navy with sincerity and a congratulatory performance by national-level art troupes in celebration of the ceremony of launching the new-type multi-mission destroyer.

After the performance, Kim Jong Un met discharged navy generals.

Highly appreciating the feats performed by the generals of the past days who had long served at the Navy’s important posts and recorded immortal exploits in the history of the Navy with boundless self-sacrificing spirit and indomitable mettle, he said that their great spirit should be invariably carried forward as the eternal soul of defence.

Kim Jong Un who is making an uninterrupted journey of devoted efforts for the accelerated growth of the national defence capability and the people’s peace, was courteously seen off by the leading officials of the Nampho Shipyard and discharged navy generals.

The ceremony of launching the new-type multi-mission destroyer held in the presence of Kim Jong Un will shine forever in history as an auspicious event heralding the new birth of the DPRK Navy and a great event that powerfully demonstrated before the whole world the spirit of advance and sure victory of our state and people dynamically advancing towards the grand goal of building an advanced maritime power.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un's Speech at Ceremony of Launching Destroyer of Navy of Korean People's Army

 

Pyongyang, April 26 (KCNA) -- The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a speech at the ceremony of launching a destroyer of the Navy of the Korean People's Army on April 25.

His speech is as follows:

Dear officials, workers and technicians of the Nampho Shipyard, which is a reliable large-scale warship-building base and is famed for the tradition and strength of self-reliance, and other workers and scientists in the shipbuilding sector,

Dear courageous commanders and sailors of the East Sea and West Sea fleets of the Navy of the Korean People's Army and the cadets of the naval university,

And respected demobilized generals, who are present here today with great pride in having long and wholeheartedly worked at important posts of our Navy,

Comrades,

Moored in front of us now is a giant warship, symbolic of the changed appearance of our Navy.

I cannot suppress my emotions as I see the new-type warship, which is indispensable in building up our capability for stoutly defending our maritime sovereignty and which will represent an important starting point of our journey towards building an advanced maritime power.

I feel infinitely honoured to proclaim the birth of the first warship of a new generation, which the Navy of the heroic KPA will be equipped with.

First, I would like to extend warm thanks to the workers, technicians and officials of the Nampho Shipyard, who have presented immense strength and militant enthusiasm to our Navy by wonderfully building this powerful multi-mission destroyer, true to the line of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government of the Republic on strengthening the naval forces.

I also offer militant encouragement to the scientists, technicians and workers in the shipbuilding sector and the relevant persons, who are working hard for steady creation and development as the main force of the revolution in the warship-building industry in the new era.

My congratulations go to the officers and men of the East Sea Fleet of the Navy of the KPA, who will receive and operate the new-type destroyer, as well as to the commanders and crewmen, who will serve on this warship.

The more I see the imposing appearance of the new-generation multi-mission attack destroyer No. 1, which our proud working class have built by their own efforts and which is mooring on the blue sea of our motherland, the more majestic it looks.

I feel quite moved to picture that this destroyer will navigate the territorial waters of our motherland with our sacred national flag hoisted.

And I feel quite at ease at the thought that our territorial waters will become more peaceful with the help of this destroyer.

The emergence of this destroyer has made a breakthrough in modernizing our naval forces.

To explain the hardware of the destroyer, an ensemble of our self-reliant defence technology, it is equipped not only with anti-air, anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-ballistic missile capability but also with weapon systems for the most effective ground striking operations, like hypersonic strategic cruise missile, tactical ballistic missile and other means of strike. So it is capable of performing multi-mission surface operations and thus increasing the possibility of direct intervention by the Navy in the ground operations.

This is one of the things of great significance in view of the military theory.

This warship will be handed over to the Navy and launched into operation in early next year after going through the necessary procedures, like the assessment of its performance and capability for conducting operations and the test of operation of its integrated equipment.

We will, of course, build warships of this class next year, too. And we are planning to build in the shortest time possible a cruiser, whose operations capability is greater, as well as escort ships of various classes, and are now examining their master plans at the final stage.

We will execute this plan of building multi-mission destroyers year by year, and these ships will sail for operations in ordinary times in the coastal defensive waters and intermediate waters.

Indeed, I would like to express my emotions again and again.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of our country's liberating itself from imperialist colonial subordination and regaining its national sovereignty. On April 25 in this meaningful year, the birthday of the first revolutionary armed forces of Korea, we have launched a powerful destroyer as an ensemble of our great national power, so this launching ceremony is more significant.

The dawn of the Korean revolution, the establishment of state power which signified that the Korean people achieved their right to independence, and their nearly-a-century-long struggle in defence of the country's sovereignty have been directly associated with the Juche-oriented armed forces, and the people have achieved victory after victory by relying entirely on these forces.

For us, April 25 is the starting point of a bloody armed struggle that began before the establishment of our state power and the founding of our Party and brought about all the momentous events.

This can be described as the birth of our people's first-ever genuine armed forces, and at the same time a demonstration of the resolute stand of the Korean revolutionaries who were determined to fight with a clear purpose and consciousness and carve out their destiny independently.

This was a day when they solemnly expressed their decision to take the road of armed struggle as their volitional and responsible choice, and their will to regain national sovereignty and establish a democratic government with indomitable revolutionary faith and through a death-defying struggle. Such is our generation's renewed understanding of April 25, 1932, a day bearing a more important political meaning than February 8, 1948, the birthday of Korea's first regular armed forces.

This renewed understanding of the historic weight of April 25 reminded us, when we were fixing this significant day as a day of this meaningful ceremony, of a veteran general who had left remarkable imprints in the glorious history of the Juche-oriented revolutionary armed forces.

This state-of-the-art multi-mission destroyer standing in front of us was classified as a Choe Hyon-class vessel, and, as stated just before, this first warship was named Choe Hyon.

General Choe Hyon, a faithful comrade-in-arms of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, is well known to the Korean people. Though his career was not specially associated with sailors, we named the first destroyer of a new generation after him, who lives in our memories as a symbol of bravery and mettle. This is because we hope our sailors' spirit will be impregnated with his soul so that the Navy will achieve victory unprecedented in the annals of its history.

Comrades Kim Chaek, An Kil, Choe Hyon, Kang Kon and all the other commanding officers of guerrilla origin were genuine generals of practical abilities. They loyally supported the great leader and assisted him with unshakable faith and remarkable military qualifications; they performed considerable exploits in liberating our country by organizing armed ranks on the principle of fighting the Japanese independently, in building our state and army in their initial days and in repulsing the allied imperialist forces.

The elite warships, which will serve as new symbols of our state's self-defensive capabilities, should naturally raise as their colours the idea upheld by the first generation of our Juche-oriented revolutionary armed forces. And by faithfully carrying forward their forerunners' courage and indomitable spirit, our sailors should regard it as their absolute mission to fight self-sacrificingly to defend the dignity of their country and the safety of their fellow people.

Other new-type destroyers to be built in the future will be named after the anti-Japanese revolutionary forerunners who distinguished themselves as renowned fighters and performed brilliant feats in the history of army building.

Over the past nearly eight decades the Navy of the Korean People's Army has repelled dangerous attempts at invasion on countless occasions and defended the maritime sovereignty, which is the core of our national sovereignty. The history of our Navy shows that the seas of our country are defended by its sailors' spirit.

During the war and in the subsequent decades our Navy was inferior to the enemy in the number of sailors and the level of armament, but it added eternal glory to the victorious history of the heroic KPA and built barriers of no retreat in the maritime gateways, which had been traditionally used as routes of invasion.

All these exploits cost our sailors precious blood and even lives, which cannot be fully explained in relation to the characteristics of their duty–defending the country's territorial waters that have never been peaceful over the past decades. Such ennobling exploits could not have been achieved if the sailors had not displayed their incomparable spirit for national defence and heroic fighting mettle.

Present here are the former generals of the Navy, who, during their service, displayed their unbounded self-sacrificing spirit and indomitable fortitude without veering even an inch from the sacred course. They thus achieved imperishable exploits to be etched forever in the history of our country's Navy for national defence.

A change of generations has taken place in our honourable Navy's ranks. However, the great spirit of our forerunners should be invariably carried forward, the spirit which they displayed by shedding blood in the rough seas with no marks of borderline in order to defend our Republic's sovereignty. This spirit, along with the indomitable courage and perseverance possessed by the founding generation of our armed forces, should shine brilliantly as our eternal soul of defence.

The destroyer Choe Hyon, which has been launched today, and other latest warships to be built will re-energize the heroic fighting spirit of our sailors and inject infinite vigour into them, thereby encouraging them to perform immortal feats to be admired by the coming generations.

Comrades,

That new-type destroyer will soon navigate the territorial waters of our Republic along the sacred course for defending its sovereignty, reflecting our people's burning desires for peace and prosperity.

For our state, the seas on its east and west are bases that are directly linked with the people's living, and they also belong to key territories over which it exercises its sovereign power.

A powerful navy guarantees peace and development–herein lies a geopolitical peculiarity of our country as a maritime state. Proceeding from this, as has ever been since the founding of our armed forces, it is our most pressing and natural option to quickly develop and incessantly expand the fighting capability of the Navy.

The maritime sovereignty of our state can be defended only by its naval supremacy.

In recent years, after we advanced a revolutionary line of strengthening the Navy, the anchor was raised for warship modernization with the birth of the first entity of this line. With this as a momentum, our Navy has secured its place as a powerful service responsible for one of the country's independent defence capabilities. In particular, as part of the nuclear war deterrent, it can enhance its position in the realm of nuclear use. This has resulted in the Navy growing more adaptable to the use of war deterrent.

Our destroyer will play an important role of firmly defending our maritime sovereignty and national interests in the territorial waters of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Now our Navy has taken the first step of the times towards practical growth by leaps and bounds.

What we experience at this moment is extremely impressive as we are surely proud that we have at last kindled the initial spark of the new era's revolution in strengthening the Navy, as we have already declared.

Research, development and production of all modern equipment of the destroyer were a costly and hard challenge. But its overall armament system is based on the solid foundations of our self-supporting defence industry. So, we have a substantial guarantee for the effectiveness of its equipment operation, not to mention its military and economic significance.

This destroyer is perfect as planned, in all aspects ranging from designing and hull construction to on-board weapon systems. Seeing this entity, we can proudly say that a radical change has taken place in warship building.

Actually, this is a monumental product of the revolutionary industry that showcases the might of our defence science and technology and the inexhaustible creativity of our intelligent and loyal working class.

The workers, technicians and officials of the Nampho Shipyard, by dint of strenuous exertion, utmost sincerity and irreproachable work style, have proved the veracity of, and the inevitability of victory in, the revolution in the warship-building industry as decided upon by our Party.

As an authoritative shipbuilding base with a history spanning nearly eight decades, the shipyard has built numerous vessels of varying sizes and kinds. Its shipbuilding techniques are admirable, and what impresses me more is the heroic mettle of its workers, who I am sure must have spent hundreds of days and nights working strenuously to complete their tasks unconditionally and as scheduled, in support of the Party's line of effecting a revolution in the warship-building industry.

On behalf of the DPRK government and all the people, particularly the officers and men of our Navy who are more excited than anybody else at this moment, I would like to express my greatest thanks and extend my warmest greetings once again to the workers, technicians and officials of the Nampho Shipyard for having wonderfully built the first destroyer of a new generation.

Comrades,

The present security environment for our state is very serious and the situation demands that we effect a drastic and rapid change in the existing military theories and practices and expand our nuclear armaments radically.

The security environment around the DPRK is as unpredictable as the changeable weather in the sea.

It is highly volatile; its tenseness and instability already having gone well beyond the danger limit.

The armies of the United States and its vassal countries, in disregard of the DPRK's concern for security, are aggravating the situation by engaging in provocative manoeuvres on a regular basis.

Recently, we have witnessed more of their moves growing dangerous.

The United States is bringing strategic strike means into the Korean peninsula at a level of constant deployment.

Worse still, the themes of its recent various military drills unambiguously reveal their aggressive character, casting off the cloak of being annual and defensive.

As our government commented some time ago, in 2024 the enemies set a new record by staging anti-DPRK war drills at unprecedented levels throughout the year, and this year, too, they are radically expanding their political and military provocations against us.

They have taken practical measures for action, openly revealing their intention to remain most hostile and confrontational to the DPRK, and become ever more undisguised in renewing all their past records.

Most recently, the US military opened to the public that last year it drew up new wartime operations plan in collusion with the ROK army.

In his written answer to a hearing of the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives, the commander of US forces in the ROK wrote that in 2024 the US and ROK military signed a new joint wartime operations plan, which had been completed over the past several years, and practically verified the plan through various allied joint military rehearsals.

It is no secret that during the joint military rehearsal in March last the US and the ROK applied OP-PLAN 2022 to jointly operate the nuclear forces of the US and the conventional forces of the ROK and conduct a drill of aggressive nature simulating nuclear strike against the DPRK, and we have already given a serious warning to the enemy states for their provocative signals.

The fact that the man in command of the US-ROK allied forces made public the existence of a new operations plan for unleashing a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula is an outspoken expression of a frenzy of confrontation against the DPRK and an open escalation of the clash-provoking situation.

In the 1990s, OP-PLAN 5027 of the US and the ROK simulating an all-out war against us was opened to the public only to create a touch-and-go situation on the Korean peninsula, and the political and military situation in and around the Korean peninsula was brought to the worst stage for years after OP-PLAN 5015, which additionally included a preemptive strike strategy, was mapped out in 2015. Such facts clearly show the consequences to be entailed by the new wartime operations plan of the US on the security environment of the region.

The new nuclear war plan of the US and the ROK is an expression of their clearest will for fighting a war against the DPRK and poses a direct threat to the peace and security in the region and the rest of the world.

The mastermind behind the escalating tension on the Korean peninsula is none other than the US and its vassal allies that have become more daring in their military manoeuvrings for transplanting NATO's infrastructure in the region and raising the level of war preparedness.

The project of the US and the ROK to make preparations for translating a nuclear war into reality has reached the gravest stage. This situation and its development prospect show us more clearly what we must attach importance to and what we must do.

We will surely cope with such a geopolitical crisis and developments, and take countermeasures.

As for our nuclear policy which has been officially enshrined in the basic law of the DPRK, it was adopted in correct reflection of the state's apprehension about its security exposed to the existing and future threats, and the present reality highlights the validity, justness and necessity of the line of building up our nuclear forces.

Most recently, I saw to it that our intention was made public through our external news service.

If the US keeps renewing its records in demonstrating its military muscles, we are also compelled to break the records of exercising the strategic deterrent.

This is a legitimate counteraction.

The enemies are well-advised to refrain from trying to test our will to fully exercise our right to mobilize without hesitation all the means in our hands for the purpose of defending the sovereignty and security interests of the state.

We will continue to make steady efforts, full of redoubled self-confidence, to further round off the nuclear defence posture based on the strong counterattack capability everywhere in the sky, on the land and on the sea and, by dint of overwhelming strength, thoroughly deter various military activities of the enemies that constantly deploy huge strategic assets, posing serious threats to the sovereignty and interests of our state.

Today's launch of this destroyer is only the start of the project for modernizing our naval forces. However, it is a perfect demonstration of our grand ambition to build up the fighting capability of our Navy in keeping with the priority requirement for the state's security and the global trend in developing the naval forces.

Now is not an era of merely having a dream, but that of just translating the dream into reality.

It is no use dreaming an idle dream for hundreds, nay thousands of days; it is no better than dreaming no such dream.

What we are planning in the effort to strengthen the naval forces is to put the latest-type warships, capable of satisfying all the demands of national defence strategies, into commission at the earliest possible date with crucial importance given to the radical growth of the warship-building industry, and thus develop the Navy of our Republic into a modern service superior not only in the political and ideological aspects but also in the military and technical aspects.

Building multi-mission destroyers can be called a key to attaining this goal.

Even the enemies, who boast about their supremacy in marine operations and warships, cannot ignore such warships.

We will further accelerate the work of strengthening the surface and underwater forces, and continuously exert ourselves to equip the warships with new-generation hi-tech means and complex offensive and defensive systems and to improve and reinforce the coastal infrastructure.

Obtaining operational capabilities on the oceans is the most reliable means for controlling positively and safely the military threats pregnant with the use of nukes on the Korean peninsula and for containing and blocking the enemy's schemes to dispatch its additional overseas troops to the peninsula in case of emergency.

We are now planning to build a fleet for ocean operations that have long been around as a byword for the imperialists' aggression.

This is a demand put forward by the present reality facing us.

Our enemies that have formed the most reactionary military bloc and been sailing around the Korean peninsula are all maritime states; and the bridgeheads for their overseas aggression, the assembly points of their forces and their logistics bases are also located on the oceans and their coastal waters.

The stark reality, in which the oceans are turning into the first battlefield, clearly teaches us what the reliable policy is to defend our national sovereignty and peace.

From the point of view of strength, the strength that can make aggression is directly proportional to the strength that can check aggression.

The term that refers to the level of the most reliable war deterrent is, in a word, a super-powerful capability for preemptive strike.

The forces that are capable of committing aggression and the forces that are actually committing it can be overwhelmed and repulsed only by the forces that are on an equal footing in terms of strength.

The defence line and policies of our state regard it as their mission to safeguard the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests, but, if an unavoidable, necessary situation presents itself for this mission, we will never hesitate to choose the preemptive employment of the most powerful military muscles.

The range of employment of this preemptive striking capability is not limited to any place or to any line.

That is why our Navy can never limit its operations to our territorial waters to safeguard the national sovereignty and interests, but must stretch its fighting capability to the oceans.

This is the best option for the defence of the territorial integrity and complete peace of our state and a fair and square exercise of the right to self-defence.

No more explanation is needed about our maritime strategy to build up the capability for launching into any waters in the world so as to check on our own initiative the aggression by the enemy states and mount a preemptive or ultimate retaliatory attack on them.

As a warship equipped with such capability, Choe Hyon, to be launched today, is an epitome that gives a glimpse into the future of our naval forces.

We can say that the building of this new-type destroyer has made a breakthrough for the historic sacred cause of rapidly raising our country to the status of a maritime power in the 21st century.

Today's ceremony of launching a new-type destroyer will serve as a signal flare for strengthening the Navy of the DPRK.

And the second signal flare will be just the building of a nuclear-powered submarine.

Comrades,

At present developing the shipbuilding industry has risen as a vital task for strengthening the naval forces and a main strategic task for safeguarding the national sovereignty.

Though it is a road new to us, we have a correct goal and methods and the strength with which to follow it.

Policies have been set forth to accelerate the qualitative, quantitative and technical transformations and signally improve the operational capabilities in building warships, and long-term plans for developing the industry of building various warships and grand plans for building warships have already been approved.

In the course of this, our warship-building industry is taking on the appearance of a modern industry, and has accumulated the self-confidence and experience for building any types of advanced warships with its own efforts and technology.

This makes stronger our will for the rejuvenation of warship-building industry and the building of a maritime power.

I believe that the officials and workers of the Nampho Shipyard who, with the building of this new wonderful destroyer, have now stood in the vanguard of the struggle to develop the warship-building industry and build up the Juche-oriented naval forces of the country, will turn out as one under the uplifted banner of realizing modernization of the shipbuilding industry and effect another revolution in warship building.

I expect your vigorous and proactive struggle which surpasses all the efforts you have made until now.

Leading officials of the Party and the state, as well as senior officials of various sectors, should also fulfil their important mission and tasks, entrusted by the era of revolution in the warship-building industry, through active participation and unstinted contribution.

Comrades,

Witnessing this great reality that helps us draw a full picture of our shipbuilding industry's potentials and development prospect, I feel assured and proud.

Now everyone feels dignified and pleased with the strengthening of our Navy, and is offering congratulations on it.

This must be a high appreciation of the great exploits the Navy has performed for the country and its devotion and reliability displayed in the struggle to defend our national sovereignty and interests, and an expression of their earnest desire for the growth and development of our Navy, which will make a rapid rise to the status of a world-class service.

There is and there must be no limit to the rapid growth of the national defence capability and to our ideals which we are desirous of and are striving to achieve.

Our history of Navy building, which the world witnesses with a new eye, has set sail now and will make vigorous advance. In this advance, we will not rest even a minute.

Dear officers and men of the Navy,

Let us pay respect to the destroyer Choe Hyon, which will be famed as an invincible warship for its association with the peerless heroism and indomitable spirit of the dauntless anti-Japanese war general.

His soul and banner will illuminate the sea route of our sailors and help them always record victory in their ship's log.

I wish the officers and men of the Navy success and glory.

Glory to our heroic naval forces!

Long live our great state, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!

Combat Application Test of Weapon Systems of Multi-mission Destroyer Choe Hyon Begins

 

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The combat application test of the weapon systems of the multi-mission destroyer Choe Hyon began.

The DPRK Missile Administration, the Academy of Defence Sciences and the Detection and Electronic Warfare Administration launched a performance and combat application test of the weapon systems mounted on the destroyer Choe Hyon.

The first test of the weapon systems of the destroyer was conducted on April 28 and 29.

The test-fire of supersonic cruise missile, strategic cruise missile, anti-aircraft missile and 127mm shipboard automatic gun took place on April 28.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, saw the first test-fire together with leading officials of the Missile Administration, the Academy of Defence Sciences, the Detection and Electronic Warfare Administration and the Nampho Shipyard.

He got on the destroyer that would undergo the scheduled weapon systems test, and acquainted himself in detail with the phased schedule and contents of the test from members of the weapon system examination group, before seeing the first test-fire.

The power of the 127mm shipboard automatic gun attracted close attention of the leading officials.

Highly appreciating that the combat application test of shipboard weapon systems has been prepared with foresight and started promptly, Kim Jong Un underscored the need to perfect the warship's weapon systems for integrated operation in a short span of time by strictly conducting the test as planned.

He highly appreciated once again, saying that very wonderful is the shipboard firepower system of the Korean style, which effectively combined the most powerful strike means including supersonic cruise missile, strategic cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile with the conventional defensive means of the warship.

Noting that a destroyer discharging the conventional mission of merely repulsing the enemy invading the territorial waters cannot be called a reliable means of maritime defence,

Kim Jong Un said that it is important to establish a proactive and aggressive defence system on the premise of powerful attack capability and that it is a major task facing the field of the warship-building industry of the DPRK to steadily raise the level of equipment of offensive and defensive complex system, into which high-tech means of a new generation are introduced, and thus put the multi-mission and multi-purpose performance of warship on a higher level.

Saying that it is high time to make a responsible option for accelerating the nuclearization of the Navy in order to defend the state and its maritime sovereignty from the existing and prospective threats, he set forth tasks to this end.

On April 29, the test-fire of anti-ship tactical guided weapon, various kinds of shipboard automatic guns and smoke and electronic jamming guns took place.