North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced that his country is moving forward with plans to equip its navy with nuclear weapons and build larger warships as part of a broader military modernization drive.
According to state-run media on Wednesday, Kim made the remarks during the commissioning ceremony of the Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton-class warship, at the port city of Nampo on Tuesday.
“The programme of equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons is following its planned course unerringly,” Kim was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.
He described the initiative as a strategic priority that would enable North Korea’s nuclear forces to be deployed more effectively across multiple military domains.
The Choe Hyon is one of two 5,000-ton-class warships launched by North Korea over the past year. Pyongyang has previously claimed that the vessel is equipped with some of its most advanced weapons systems. Kim has conducted several inspections of the warship this year, including overseeing a cruise missile test from the vessel in April.
During the ceremony, Kim also revealed plans for a significant expansion of the country’s naval capabilities.
“Following the Choe Hyon, we will soon commission destroyer Kang Kon for operations. After that we will launch 10,000-ton strategic warships one after another,” he said.
According to Kim, North Korea intends to build two advanced surface warships annually, including 10,000-ton-class cruisers that would surpass the capabilities of the Choe Hyon.
The announcement follows a three-day plenary meeting of the ruling party that concluded on Monday, during which Kim pledged to further strengthen the country’s defense capabilities. He cited ongoing military modernization efforts by South Korea and the United States as factors increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and pushing the region closer to the risk of nuclear conflict.
North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an irreversible nuclear state, particularly after denuclearization talks between Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 over disagreements regarding sanctions relief and nuclear disarmament measures.
The country remains subject to multiple international sanctions linked to its nuclear weapons programme. Meanwhile, North and South Korea are technically still at war, as the 1950–1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.
