North korean leader furious over the failed destroyer launch vows arrests

North korean leader furious over the failed destroyer launch vows arrests

The destroyer was damaged when a transport cradle detached early during a launch at Chongjin port, claims North Korea; officials are investigating the failed launch; the ship likely sustained severe damage, and repairs may take over a year, as replacing the engine requires cutting through the hull.

North Korea is seeking to arrest those responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, as it denied the warship suffered major damage — a claim quickly met with outside scepticism.

A statement from North Korea on its handling of the botched launch came after leader Kim Jong-un expressed fury over the incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said on Friday that those responsible would be held accountable for their “unpardonable criminal act.”

Satellite imagery on the site showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged. North Korea says it will take about 10 days to repair the damage, but outside observers question that timeframe because damage to the ship appeared much worse than what North Korea claims.

North Korea’s state media said on Friday the severity of the damage to the 5,000-tonne-class destroyer was “not serious” as it cancelled an earlier assessment that the bottom of the hull had been left with holes. It said the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater had flowed into the sternsection.

‘Matter of ten days’

It said it needs a total of 10 days to pump out the seawater, set the ship upright and fix the scratches.

It’s almost impossible to verify the assessment because of the extremely secretive nature of North Korea. It has a history of manipulating or covering up military-related setbacks, policy fiascoes and other mishaps, though it has periodically acknowledged some in recent years.

Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defence Network in South Korea, said the North Korean warship likely suffered much worse damage, including the flooding of its engine room located in the stern section, and holes in the starboard. He said North Korea could simply set the ship upright, paint it over and claim the ship has been launched, but that repairs could take more than a year as the replacement of an engine requires cutting the hull.

According to the North Korean account, the destroyer was damaged when a transport cradle on the ship’s stern detached early during a launch ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday.

Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said North Korean workers are probably not familiar with launching a 5,000-ton-class warship, which is a few times heavier than its existing main navy ships.

Observers say North Korea tried to launch the destroyer sideways, a method it has never used for warships, although it has previously employed it with big cargo and passenger ships.

Compared with those non-military vessels, Mr. Lee said it would be more difficult to maintain balance with the destroyer because it’s equipped with heavy weapons systems.

He suspected North Korean scientists and officials likely did not factor that in.

The damaged ship is assessed as being of the same class as North Korea’s first destroyer, launched with great fanfare last month, with a floating dry dock at a western shipyard.

An embarrassment

It is North Korea’s biggest and most advanced warship to date, and Mr. Kim called its construction “a breakthrough” in modernising North Korea’s naval forces to cope with what he calls U.S.-led security threats.

Subsequently, a failure to launch the second destroyer was an embarrassment for Mr. Kim. But by disclosing the failure both internally and externally, Mr. Kim could be trying to show his resolve in building greater naval forces and boosting discipline at home. He ordered officials to repair the warship before a ruling Workers’ Party meeting in late June.

The official Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that a team of prosecutors and experts began steps to arrest and investigate those responsible as part of their full-scale investigation into the case. KCNA said that Hong Kil Ho, manager of the Chongjin shipyard, has been summoned for questioning.

“No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged,” the North’s Central Military Commission said.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea appears to be using the failed launch as a chance to strengthen the ruling party’s control over science and technological sectors.

Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said that North Korea’s handling of the damaged warship could have long-term consequences for its defence science sector.