North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a cruise missile test from the country’s newest destroyer on Tuesday, according to state media. This test is the second such launch carried out in the past week and shows Pyongyang’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its naval strike capabilities. State media reported Wednesday that the launch took place off North Korea’s west coast and was conducted from the navy’s newest destroyer but it is still undergoing development.
Remote launch aimed at testing command systems
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim supervised the launch remotely to test the country’s wartime command and control systems. According to the report, Kim communicated with the ship through a telephone line and monitored the operation through a video link from an undisclosed indoor location.
KCNA said the test was meant to ensure that the command system works properly during wartime situations and to prepare the crew before the ship is formally deployed to the navy.
Photos released by state media showed Kim watching the launch with his young daughter sitting beside him, though she was not mentioned in the official report.
Missiles launched from new destroyer near Nampho
KCNA said the missiles were launched from the No. 51 Choe Hyon destroyer near the Nampho coast. The ship had sailed from the Nampho Shipyard, where it is still being developed, to carry out the test.
According to the report, several cruise missiles were fired in quick succession.
The missiles flew “along flight trajectories set over the West Sea of Korea for between 10,116 and 10,138 seconds” before hitting island targets.
This equals just under 169 minutes of flight time, close to North Korea’s claimed maximum of 170 minutes during earlier tests of the Hwasal series “long-range strategic cruise missiles” in 2022 and 2023.
Video footage released by state television showed the destroyer launching six missiles in quick succession from a vertical launch system (VLS) located at the rear of the ship.During a previous test on March 4, the vessel launched five missiles from the same system.
Demonstrating nuclear deterrence
State media said the test was also intended to show the country’s nuclear capabilities and its determination to strengthen its deterrence.
The launch comes at a time of increased global attention on nuclear weapons following recent military actions involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
After watching the test, Kim said the country’s strategic weapons systems were performing reliably.
“Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction that the reliability of the national strategic weapons integrated command system and the superiority of the ship’s integrated combat system had been confirmed,” KCNA reported Wednesday.
“The components of our war deterrence capability are now being continuously and effectively, and at an accelerating pace, incorporated into a highly sophisticated operational system,” Kim declared after the test, adding that the “state nuclear force has transitioned to a multi-faceted operational stage.”
He previously said during the Ninth Party Congress last month that the military would continue to conduct “operational testing of the nuclear trigger,” also known as the “integrated nuclear crisis response system.”
Plans for more destroyers and new weapons systems
During Tuesday’s inspection, Kim also gave instructions for future warships currently under construction.
He said the next destroyer being built at the Nampho Shipyard, expected to be completed by Oct. 10 this year should replace traditional shipborne automatic cannons with supersonic weapon systems.
According to his guidance, larger warships such as the 5,000-ton Choe Hyon-class destroyers and future 8,000-ton vessels should focus more on long-range strike capabilities instead of close-range guns.
Naval automatic guns should only be installed on smaller, high-speed warships weighing less than 3,000 tons.
“It is more favorable to enhance the anti-warship and strategic attack capabilities … by equipping high-speed warships of below 3,000 tonnage with such naval automatic guns and additionally installing supersonic weapon systems instead of those guns on the 5,000-tonnage, 8,000-tonnage destroyers in the future,” he said.
Expanding naval power
North Korea first unveiled the Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton multipurpose destroyer, in April last year as part of efforts to strengthen its navy.
State media claimed the vessel is equipped with supersonic strategic cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and other strike systems.
In June 2025, North Korea launched another 5,000-ton destroyer named Kang Kon. Kim later ordered the construction of a third destroyer of the same class by Oct. 10 this year, the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
North Korea has also displayed a different type of supersonic anti-ship cruise missile during a weapons exhibition held last November.
More tests expected before deployment
Kim said the destroyer and its crew must carry out further tests before the ship officially joins the navy. These include testing “anti-air, anti-submarine, and mine weapons systems,” as well as sailing and maneuvering exercises.
He instructed officials to complete all trials and “deliver the ship to the navy within the set deadline.” At the ship’s launch ceremony last April, Kim had originally called for the vessel to be delivered to the East Sea Fleet by “early” 2026.