North Korea must build two warships per year for the next five years, each the size of the ship “Cho Hyon“ with a displacement of 5,000 tons, leader Kim Jong Un said during a ceremony to commission the destroyer, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported, quoted by Reuters.
Kim attended a ceremony at the port of Nampo in North Korea to celebrate the commissioning of the new multi-purpose destroyer “Cho Hyon“, the KCNA reported.
The destroyer has successfully passed all tests over the past 14 months, the agency added.
The country plans to soon commission another 5,000-ton destroyer, called “Kang Kon“, as well as 10,000-ton “strategic warships“, Kim said.
“Kang Kon“ was repaired last year after it partially capsized during a launching ceremony.
Kim said the navy was the weakest part of North Korea's armed forces, but its capabilities would now be "something incredible, beyond imagination."
"The construction of a modernized naval base has become an urgent and vital task," the North Korean leader said.
He said members of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea discussed plans to build new naval bases at a meeting on Monday.
The most important change for the navy will be a change in its status, role and scope of operations, Kim said, without giving details.
The arming of the navy with nuclear weapons "is progressing on its own path“, contributing to the country's nuclear deterrence, he added.