{"id":16652,"date":"2025-05-26T11:38:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T11:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/26\/north-korea-arrests-four-over-failed-warship-launch-as-images-show-vessel-shielded-from-prying-eyes\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T11:38:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T11:38:51","slug":"north-korea-arrests-four-over-failed-warship-launch-as-images-show-vessel-shielded-from-prying-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/26\/north-korea-arrests-four-over-failed-warship-launch-as-images-show-vessel-shielded-from-prying-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea arrests four over failed warship launch as images show vessel shielded from prying eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea has arrested four people it claims bear responsibility for a launch accident last week that left <\/strong>leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s newest warship lying on its side and partially submerged in a shipyard, state-run media has reported. <\/p>\n

The four people detained included Ri Hyong Son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, \u201cwho was greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,\u201d a report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday said. <\/p>\n

On Sunday, KCNA said three others had been detained: Kang Jong Chol, chief engineer of the Chongjin Shipyard where the accident occurred, Han Kyong Hak, head of the hull construction workshop, and Kim Yong Hak, deputy manager for administrative affairs. <\/p>\n

Kim last week called the <\/strong>botched launch, which he witnessed, \u201ca criminal act\u201d and vowed to punish those responsible. <\/p>\n

Last Wednesday\u2019s accident resulted from a malfunction in the launch mechanism that <\/strong>caused the stern of the as-yet unnamed 5,000-ton destroyer to slide prematurely into the water, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stranded on the shipway, KCNA reported on Thursday in a rare admission of fault from an otherwise highly secretive state. <\/p>\n

State media reported on Friday that the damage to the warship was less than North Korea\u2019s initial estimate, saying there were no holes in the hull, although it was scratched along the starboard side. It also said \u201ca certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section.\u201d <\/p>\n

Repairs could take about 10 days, the report said. Though analysts are skeptical. <\/p>\n

Kim had ordered the destroyer to be restored before the late June plenary session of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party, calling the matter one of national honor. <\/p>\n

Tarp covers<\/h2>\n

Satellite imagery shows most of the warship covered in blue tarps at the launch site, making it difficult for experts to determine the full extent of the damage it suffered. <\/p>\n

But analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said repair work could take up to six months, well beyond Kim\u2019s June target. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the hull damage extends across the ship\u2019s port side covered by the tarp, then we are looking at four to six months of repair work,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Repairs could be complicated depending on the amount of sea water that entered the warship, according to Schuster. <\/p>\n

The interior of the ship would need to be thoroughly flushed with fresh water and then dried to prevent \u201csalt crust\u201d from forming on metal surfaces, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it gets into joints and things, then it becomes destructive,\u201d Schuster said. <\/p>\n

But the flushing work cannot begin until the ship is righted and any holes in the hull are patched, he said. <\/p>\n

KCNA reported Monday that \u201cthe work for completely restoring the balance of the warship is being actively conducted,\u201d but it did not give a timeline. <\/p>\n

South Korean lawmaker and defense analyst Yu Yong-weon said last week that rushing the launch of the ship likely led to the problems encountered on Wednesday and warned hasty repairs could cause more problems down the line. <\/p>\n

Schuster echoed that thinking, saying optics may be more important than military value to the Kim regime. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf Kim Jong Un says, \u2018I want that ship fitted out in six months,\u2019 they\u2019ll take shortcuts to make it happen. And usually when you do that you wind up with a ship that\u2019s not, shall we say optimal for operations? But it meets the propaganda criteria.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Korea has arrested four people it claims bear responsibility for a launch accident last week that left leader Kim Jong Un\u2019s newest warship lying on its side and partially submerged in a shipyard, state-run media has reported. The four people detained included Ri Hyong Son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16652","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}