Top DPRK leader attends commissioning ceremony of new destroyer Choe Hyon
Xinhua
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Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attends a commissioning ceremony of its new-type multi-mission destroyer Choe Hyon at Nampho Port, DPRK, June 23, 2026. /VCG

Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attends a commissioning ceremony of its new-type multi-mission destroyer Choe Hyon at Nampho Port, DPRK, June 23, 2026. (Photo: VCG)

PYONGYANG, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Tuesday attended a commissioning ceremony of its new-type multi-mission destroyer Choe Hyon at Nampho Port, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.

The warship was formally placed into service of the country's navy after concluding 14-month trial procedures for assessing its operational capabilities, said the report.

The change in the DPRK's navy does not simply mean larger size of vessels or technological advancement of ship-borne equipment, Kim was quoted as saying.

The most important change and the most significant progress is that the navy "has taken a different position, a different mission and a different area of waters its action covers, and accordingly it will achieve a different result," he added.

The country's navy is "rising into a full-fledged service equipped with strategic means," Kim said.