Kim, who witnessed the failed launch of the 5,000-ton destroyer, excoriated the accident as caused by “carelessness” that tarnished the country’s dignity, and ordered the ship to be restored before a key ruling party meeting in June, KCNA said on Thursday.
KCNA said the incident at the northeastern port of Chongjin was caused by a loss of balance while the vessel was being launched and it said sections of the bottom of the warship were crushed, but it did not give more details of damage sustained.
Kim said the accident “brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse”, adding an immediate restoration of the destroyer was “not merely a practical issue but a political issue directly related to the authority of the state.”
The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States had been monitoring the activities in advance, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.
North Korea has previously experienced accidents such as space launch vehicle failures and civilian disasters that have subsequently been used to promote the role of the leadership and the ruling Workers' Party in correcting the problems.
In a report last week on preparations for the latest launch, U.S.-based 38 North said it appeared the ship would be side-launched from the quay, a method not previously observed in North Korea.
Commercial satellite imagery of the shipyard the day before the launch showed the destroyer positioned on the quay with support vessels by its side and its missile tube magazines exposed.
“It shows again Kim Jong Un's ruling style of cutting off negative rumours from spreading and controlling officials more forcefully by being open about it rather than hiding it,“ said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.
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