Report: North Korea Has Successfully Righted Warship After Failed Launch
The independent watchdog group Stimson Center and its site dedicated to monitoring North Korea, 38 North, are reporting that with remarkable speed the warship which suffered a catastrophic failure in its launch has been righted. The group analyzed commercial satellite imagery reporting the vessel appeared to be upright less than two weeks after it partially submerged when a planned sideways launch malfunctioned.
According to the analysts at 38 North, the helipad markings of the destroyer are now visible in the June 2 imagery meaning the vessel is once again upright. Images in late May showed the vessel tipped on its side with its bow still on land and the stern in the water. In another image from May 29, 38 North reports workers can be seen pulling tethers and they presumed barrage balloons were also being employed in the manual effort to right the vessel.
The current images show the vessel with its bow still on land and the stern in the water. Reports said that the supreme leader Kim Jong Un had ordered the immediate salvaging of the vessel to save face for the country and set an end-of-June deadline for the repairs.
Commercial satellite imagery shows that the Choe Hyun class destroyer at Chongjin has been returned to an upright position. https://t.co/vzjsinZoqI
— 38 North (@38NorthNK) June 3, 2025
38 North believes the bow of the vessel has been damaged and notes the shipyard lacks a large enough floating drydock to repair the ship. They speculate that with the bow remaining on shore, the yard will attempt repairs with the vessel in this position.
North Korean media outlet KCNA however reported the ship was only "scratched" on the starboard side, without any "bulge on the bottom of the ship." They asserted that there was only very limited flooding in a "rescue passage" at the stern.
North Korea’s latest naval destroyer has been significantly damaged prior to its launch. In a rare acknowledgment, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported yesterday an incident occurred with a new destroyer in Chongjin, which was close to being launched. pic.twitter.com/0PfuqehYnF
— Open Source Centre (@osc_london) May 22, 2025
Kim called the launch failure "a criminal act" and said there would be "political accountability" for the disgrace to the country. The central media in North Korea later reported that three managers for the project - the workshop head and chief engineer at the yard, as well as a midlevel administrative official - had been arrested.
The manager of the Chongjin Yard, Hong Kil Ho, was also summoned for questioning while Ri Hyong Son, a director in the Munitions Industry Department, was arrested. KCNA reported that Ri was "greatly responsible" for the accident.