DPRK launches new Destroyer Choe Hyon

All images via the KCNA (See more: KCNA | Photo | Commissioning Ceremony of New-type Multi-mission Destroyer Choe Hyon Held with Splendor)

The commissioning ceremony of the Democratic Republic of Korea's (DPRK) first-in-class guided-missile destroyer, Choe Hyon (hull number 51) took place at the Nampho shipyard on June 23, 2026. Comrade Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK attended the event.

The Choe Hyon is the DPRK's largest warship to date, with a displacement of approximately 5,000 tons. It is a multi-mission guided-missile destroyer, signaling a significant enhancement in the country’s maritime strike and defense capabilities. This vessel represents the first of its class, and the DPRK plans to expand this class into a fleet of up to 12 warships by the early 2030s. The commissioning marks a notable milestone in the DPRK’s naval modernization program, aiming to project power and strengthen defensive capabilities along its coastal waters.

Kim Jong Un, spoke at the event and emphasized the importance of strengthening the country’s naval capabilities and outlined plans for further expansion of the Korean People's Navy.

"This destroyer, a powerful naval combat system which even we recognize with admiration, is going to be commissioned for the Navy at last, and a new chapter of history will be written for the defence of the sacred maritime sovereignty and airspace of Korea.

At this moment, when the wish of all the generations of our Navy for a most powerful warship and of other people for all the things on this land, beautiful and precious, to be defended at all costs is to be realized, I would like first of all to extend warmest greetings of gratitude once again to the workers of the Nampho Shipyard and the talented persons and officials in the shipbuilding and defence industry sectors, who have worked devotedly day and night with ardent patriotism...

In the whole course of building and testing this destroyer, the first of its kind in the history of our Navy and our armed forces, we have confirmed the satisfactory result that the warship is possessed of the most perfect, complex operational and combat capability."

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA):

"The new-type multi-mission destroyer Choe Hyon, born as an aggregate of self-reliant defence technology and a new symbol of the sea defence capability of the state, will be formally commissioned into the Navy of the Korean People's Army after successfully concluding the shakedown for assessing its capability of executing operations for one year and two months.

The commissioning of the powerful battleship, which will sail along the course of defending the sacred maritime sovereignty and national interests of the DPRK with an important mission of implementing the national defence strategy of the Party Central Committee and exercising the war deterrent, is a meaningful indication of the radical qualitative strengthening of the Navy of the Republic with the strongest combat force which is put on the most powerful and ultra-modern level of Korean-style."