North Korea Activates Second 5,000-Ton Destroyer—Kim Says It Joins Nuclear Response System

North Korea has put its second 5,000-ton destroyer into service, and Kim Jong Un is presenting the warship as something larger than a naval upgrade: a new part of the country’s nuclear deterrent.

The Kang Kon was commissioned Sunday, September 6, at the eastern port city of Wonsan, according to North Korean state media. The ceremony was reported Monday as the United States, South Korea and Japan began a five-day military exercise in waters and airspace near the Korean Peninsula.

Kim said the destroyer would become part of North Korea’s state nuclear-response system and described its deployment on the peninsula’s eastern side as a message to the country’s adversaries. “The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater,” he said, according to KCNA, as reported by Reuters.

What the Kang Kon adds

The Kang Kon is the second vessel in North Korea’s new destroyer class. Its sister ship, the Choe Hyon, entered service on the country’s west coast about three months earlier. The two are regarded as North Korea’s largest and most advanced warships.

North Korean media says the class can carry conventional and nuclear weapons. However, Reuters noted an important limit: KCNA did not say whether the Kang Kon itself would carry nuclear weapons. The agency said the ship has systems similar to the Choe Hyon, whose missiles analysts believe may be capable of carrying nuclear payloads.

The Associated Press reported that North Korea said it test-fired nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the Kang Kon in July. Independent journalists were not given access to Sunday’s ceremony, and the images and technical claims released by Pyongyang could not be independently verified.

The commissioning also completes a notable recovery for the vessel. The Kang Kon partially capsized during a launch ceremony last year and was later repaired. By June, Kim was calling for North Korea to build two warships of roughly this size each year for the next five years, part of an effort to transform what he had described as the weakest branch of the country’s armed forces.

Why the timing matters

Hours after the Wonsan ceremony, the United States, South Korea and Japan opened the annual Freedom Edge exercise. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the drill will continue through Friday in international waters southeast and south of Jeju Island, using major maritime and aerial assets to strengthen the allies’ response to North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

The AP reported that about 560 Japanese troops are taking part. U.S. commanders described the exercise as defensive, while North Korea has characterized it as evidence of a hostile posture.

The drill follows an earlier attempt by President Donald Trump to reduce tensions. On August 21, U.S. and South Korean forces ended their Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise six days early after Trump ordered it substantially reduced. North Korea dismissed that move as insufficient and later fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea.

The next reveal may come in eight months

Kim said North Korea would show another “significant” stage of its naval buildup in eight months but did not identify the project. Analysts cited by Reuters said the timetable could point to a new strategic asset rather than another conventional surface ship, possibly something connected to Kim’s long-stated pursuit of a nuclear-powered submarine.

North Korea is also constructing naval bases on its east coast and planning new naval units and additional classes of warships. That makes the Kang Kon more than a single launch: it is the clearest visible sign yet that Pyongyang wants its nuclear strategy to extend farther from land and deeper into surrounding waters.

For the United States and its regional allies, the central question now is not simply how many large warships North Korea can build. It is whether Pyongyang can reliably operate, arm and sustain them—and how quickly that expanding fleet changes military planning around the peninsula.