Quick Take: After the Party
North Korea’s new naval destroyer was dedicated by Kim Jong Un last week, but it appears more work is necessary before it can truly take to the seas. Commercial satellite imagery shows the ship being nudged back towards the drydock just days after the ceremony.
The use of tugboats to move the ship into place and back again could indicate the lack of a functioning propulsion system.
Construction on the vessel began in May 2024 and has moved at a fast pace. In late March, the ship was transferred from a construction hall to a floating drydock and, last Friday, imagery captured it being pushed into position by tugboats for the ceremony.
The latest image, captured on April 28, shows tugs nudging the ship back towards the floating drydock. There, presumably, the rest of the work on the ship will be completed before it can move under its own power.
State media coverage of the ceremony included video of the vessel, but no footage showed it away from its mooring. North Korea’s news agency carried a single still image of the ship in the Taedong River, but it appeared to be stationary.
