North ​Korea should build two warships as large as ‌its 5,000-metric-ton Choe Hyon vessel ​every year in the next five ⁠years, leader Kim Jong Un said at a commissioning ceremony of a destroyer on ‌Tuesday(June 23, 2026), according to state media KCNA.

Mr. Kim attended the ceremony held at ‌the Nampho port in North Korea ‌to ⁠celebrate the deployment of the ⁠new multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon, KCNA reported.

The destroyer successfully completed military operational tests over the past ​14 months, KCNA ‌added.

The country plans to deploy another 5,000-ton destroyer named Kang Kon soon along with 10,000-ton strategic warships, Mr. Kim said, ‌according to the report.

Kang Kon ​was repaired last year after partially capsizing during a launch ceremony.

The ⁠Navy had been the weakest part of North Korea’s military forces, Mr. Kim said, ‌adding that its capabilities would now be “something incredible beyond imagination.”

“Building a modernised naval base has emerged as a desperate and essential task,” Mr. Kim said.

He said officials of the ruling ‌Workers’ Party’s Central Committee discussed plans to build ​new naval bases at a meeting on Monday (June 22, 2026).

The most important change ⁠for the navy would be a shift ⁠in its status, role and scope of operations, Mr. Kim said, without elaborating.

The ‌Navy’s nuclearisation is “advancing along its own course,” contributing to the country’s nuclear ​deterrence, he said.