North Korea’s Kim Jong-un says new destroyer will be part of nuclear response system

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country’s newest destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system and could deliver “annihilating retaliatory strikes”, state media KCNA reported on Monday (Sept 7), although it did not say whether the vessel would carry nuclear weapons.North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernise its navy as Kim pursues a broader expansion of the country’s nuclear-capable forces.At a commissioning ceremony in the eastern port city of Wonsan on Sunday, Kim said the new ship’s deployment to the sea east of the Korean Peninsula sent a clear signal to North Korea’s adversaries.”The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and under water,” Kim said, according to KCNA.The 5,000-ton-class destroyer, the “Kang Kon”, is the second warship of its class to enter service, following the commissioning of the “Choe Hyon” destroyer on North Korea’s west coast about three months earlier, KCNA cited Kim as saying.