Epochal event in modernization of Navy
October 16, 2026The DPRK is a maritime country bounded by the sea on the east and the west.
The sea is a site of the Korean people’s life and at the same time has constantly been a main route of aggression by the enemies.
It is a fact 100-odd years ago that the US imperialists dispatched an aggressor ship to a coastal area of Korea to infringe on the sovereign rights of the country and inflict great misfortune and sufferings on the Korean people.
After the establishment of the DPRK, hostile forces continued maritime aggression in an attempt to block its independent development but the sailors of the Korean People’s Army defended its sea of the country in the indomitable spirit of defence and the heroic self-sacrificing spirit.
In those days, the Korean people harboured a burning desire for a strong navy, and the desire grew so intense decade after decade and from one century to the next.
It is respected General Secretary
With the great ambition to increase the country’s defence capabilities in every way so that no hostile forces dare to provoke, the respected General Secretary put forward a strategic policy for epochal development of the shipbuilding industry and wisely led its implementation.
While learning about warship building at major shipyards on the spot, he stressed that only when there are powerful naval forces that no one can provoke, is it possible to defend the security of the country and the people and guarantee normal development of the fishing industry and the overall national economy and that for us, the sea, before being a limitless base for prosperity, is an inviolable domain where the dignity and prestige of our state and the people’s life are defended.
2025 was recorded as a remarkable year in which an important breakthrough was made in the modernization of the Navy in the new era in the country.
At a ceremony of launching a destroyer of the Navy of the Korean People’s Army, which was held on April 25, the significant founding anniversary of the first armed forces of the Korean revolution, the state-of-the-art multi-mission destroyer was classified as a Choe Hyon-class vessel and the first warship was named after Choe Hyon, an elder of the armed forces of the country and a veteran general. And at a similar ceremony held in June demonstrating the vigorous advance and development of the revolution in the warship-building industry and the modernization of the naval forces in the new era, another newly-built destroyer was graded as the Choe Hyon class and named Kang Kon, the first chief of the General Staff of the KPA.
The General Secretary evaluated the needs of history and the present times with a responsible attitude and viewpoint towards the security of the present and future and steadily led the revolution in the warship-building industry.
In the place where there took place the test for assessing the performance of the warships’ weapon systems, he expressed his determination to take national measures to build up the Navy which plays an important role in defending the maritime sovereignty of the country and exercising the war deterrent. And at the first enlarged meeting of the Ninth Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, he indicated the orientation and ways for accelerating the construction of modern naval bases and the technical updating for expanding the capacity of shipyards at all levels in keeping with the start of signal transformation in the position and role of the Navy.
He made sure that the principle of bringing ability in step with a goal set by the times, instead of setting a goal based on the calculation of ability, was adhered to and that the goal was attained without compromise or delay under any circumstances. Thanks to his immortal leadership exploits, the DPRK, with its own efforts, built and commissioned into the Navy in two or three years the destroyers, which reflect the Korean people’s desire for peace and prosperity.
In his speech made at the ceremony for marking the commissioning of the destroyer Kang Kon held on September 6 this year, the General Secretary said that in the past, because of the limitations of our military equipment, we had no other alternative but to leave the enemy warships move rampantly around our territorial waters as they wanted, although we had such great courage and mettle to defend the seas of our country firmly and that such a thing of the past shall never be repeated. He also declared that the military activities for maritime defence and war deterrence are the constitutional duty of the armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to safeguard the absolute security of the state, maintain the strategic stability and the balance of forces in the region and contain geopolitical threats.
THE PYONGYANG TIMES