North Korean warship launch flops before Kim Jong-un, a blow to his ‘prestige’

At a ceremony to launch a new 5,000-tonne destroyer in the eastern port city of Chongjin on Wednesday “a serious accident occurred”, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Blaming “inexperienced command and operational carelessness” during the launch, which was being observed by Kim, KCNA said there was a mishap which left “some sections of the warship’s bottom crushed”.

It said the accident managed to “destroy the balance of the warship”.

Kim watched the entire incident and declared it a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness”, warning it “could not be tolerated”.

He said the “irresponsible errors” of officials responsible would be “dealt with at the plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee to be convened next month”.