New satellite imagery indicates that North Korea has held a new launch ceremony or a similar event for its second Choi-Hyun class frigate, or that one may be imminent. The warship is currently in a dry dock after a botched launch attempt in May that left it partially sunk.
TWZ obtained the new images of the frigate, the name of which has not yet been publicly announced, which were taken today, from our friends at Maxar Technologies. The initial failed launch occurred on May 21 in the port city of Chongjin. The ship had been righted by June 2 and was subsequently towed to the dry dock facility in the port city of Rajin to the northeast.
“On today’s imagery, a large crowd of spectators are seen on the dock next to the destroyer, ceremonial flags are seen hanging on the ship and dozens of buses are positioned nearby that brought people to the ceremony,” Maxar noted in a statement accompanying the images.
In addition, the imagery shows what looks to be pavilions, viewing stands, and/or other temporary structures that align with a major event like a launch ceremony. Those structures are also not present in an earlier image from Maxar taken on June 8 after the ship’s arrival in Rajin.
At the time of writing, there do not appear to be any announcements about a new ceremony around the ship from North Korean state media, at least in English. As TWZ has noted from the start, state outlets in the Hermit Kingdom have been unusually proactive in reporting on the incident, likely to keep ahead of the narrative.
In the imagery now available, the second Choi-Hyun class frigate looks strikingly pristine, at least externally, as well. To what extent this is just a facade is unknown, but there was significant structural damage to the superstructure plainly visible as recently as June 8, as seen below. How the North Koreans were able to achieve this ‘restoration,’ even superficially, is unclear.
It also raises the question of whether a swap-out with the first-in-class Choi-Hyun might have occurred. However, this seems close to an impossibility based on a review of other satellite images, including of Choi-Hyun‘s homeport in Nampo on North Korea’s western coast, all the way on the opposite side of the peninsula. That ship appears to be visible in port in available low-resolution imagery. There is also no evidence of a swap-out in low-resolution images of Rajin since June 8. Furthermore, North Korea sending a warship from one side of the Korean Peninsula to the other would be a major move that would be exceedingly hard, if not impossible, to make without incident. Maritime boundaries between North and South Korea are heavily monitored and have been the site of violent skirmishes in the past.
The full scale and scope of the damage that the second frigate suffered during the failed launch, and what actual repairs have been made so far, also remain unclear. The North Koreans were able to meet an ambitious goal of having the ship at least righted within 10 days of the initial incident. It is still highly questionable whether they will be truly able to meet an additional directive to restore the ship to its prior condition before the end of this month.
As TWZ previously explained:
“The ship clearly has structural damage to its superstructure, with mangled metal and bent lines appearing in the satellite images. Some areas of the ship were flooded with seawater, which would have had a major impact on any machinery and electronics in those areas. All this will take time to remediate, and we still don’t know the condition of the ship’s hull, although it did make the 50-mile voyage to its current resting spot.”
“This is a large and complex vessel for North Korea to repair, and the facilities at Rajin are not extensive. It is still possible that the North Koreans are getting help from China or Russia, something we had initially speculated. The latter of the two, in particular, is working extensively with Pyongyang in terms of military assistance in return for North Korea’s support of its invasion of Ukraine. The location of the ship near the Russian border in an economic zone dominated by cross-border trade also points to the possibility that Moscow is lending a hand.”
From the start, there has been a clear incentive for authorities in North Korea to at least claim that the ship has been fixed in record time. The initial incident was highly embarrassing and impossible to hide, with state media having made clear the furor of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over what had happened right in front of him. A number of officials from the Chongjin Shipyard have been detained as part of an ongoing investigation. At least one senior party official has been at least summoned before the state law enforcement apparatus, as well.
In addition, the heavily armed Choi-Hyun class frigate represents a major new development for North Korea’s navy, though there are still questions about the full extent of their capabilities, as you can read more about in our past reporting on the first of these warships.
If a new launch ceremony has now been held, or is about to occur, and goes off without incident, it is likely that North Korean media will then publish propaganda pictures from the event that could offer additional clues as to the actual state of the second Choi-Hyun class frigate.
Update: 10:10 PM EST –
North Korean state media has now confirmed the launch ceremony for the second Choi-Hyun class frigate occurred in Raijin on June 12 (it is now already June 13 on the Korean Peninsula). We also now know the name of the ship, the Kang Kon.
“Kang Kon was a political commissar of a Korean Peoples’ Revolutionary Army (KPRA) regiment and a detachment unit during the anti-Japanese armed struggle. After Korea’s liberation, he served as Vice-Minister of National Defence and the Chief of the General Staff of the Korean Peoples’ Army (KPA) concurrently. During the Fatherland Liberation War, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Front Headquarters before falling in action on September 8, 1950,” according to Beyond Parallel, a project within the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington, D.C.
“During the launch ceremony, Kim Jong-un addressed the earlier failed launch at Chongjin, stating that ‘while it is unacceptable that such a challenge arose…from sheer irresponsibility and negligence,’ equating it to ‘a grave and inexcusable criminal act,'” North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported, according to Beyond Parallel. “However, he emphasized that ‘within just over two weeks of the incident, the destroyer was stabilized and refloated…through this recovery effort, we were also able to confirm the structural stability and technical excellence of the destroyer’s design.'”
“The vessel will now undergo the necessary sequential processes, including the integration of its weapons systems, performance and operational capability evaluations, and integrated operational testing, before being delivered to the Navy in the middle of next year,” Rodong Sinmun‘s report added.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com