North Korea upgrades Nampho Shipyard as Kim inspects new warship

Choe Hyon , seen here during sea trials at an undisclosed location in North Korea, months before its commissioning in June. (KCNA via KNS/AFP via Getty Images)

North Korea is modernising production lines at Nampho Shipyard and progressing the construction of a new warship, state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on 4 November.

During a visit to the shipyard, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for expanding capacity and upgrading technology at Nampho and other major shipyards, KCNA reported. He also urged officials to automate production, build an additional dry dock to allow ships to be built and maintained at the same time, and modify the shipyard's layout.

Kim said the shipbuilding strategy set out by the Party Congress would strengthen industrial infrastructure, support growth in the marine industry, and protect the country's maritime sovereignty.

“It is vital and important requirement of the times to rapidly bolster up the surface and underwater combat power for defending the national sovereignty in the sea under various threats,” Kim said.

Kim visited the Nampho Shipyard to provide “field guidance” and inspect a new warship under construction, KCNA reported. The agency provided no details about the warship, saying only that it was designed to carry out a “complex operational mission” in modern warfare.

The report said that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” with the new warship, saying it was “incomparably huge and browbeating than the destroyer built last year”.

Images released by KCNA appear to show a larger vessel, although the agency has not identified its class or provided technical details. According to South Korean media, images of the ship's hull released by KCNA suggest it could be a new 10,000-tonne-class vessel.

North Korea unveiled its first 5,000-tonne-class destroyer, the Choe Hyon