The accident took place Wednesday at the Chongjin Shipyard on the country's east coast, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Due to "inexperienced command and operational carelessness," a malfunction in the launch mechanism caused the ship's stern to prematurely slide into the water, the KCNA report said.
Some sections of the hull were crushed, upsetting the balance of the warship and preventing the bow from leaving the shipway, the report added.
After witnessing the accident, Kim Jong Un called it a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility and could not be tolerated," according to KCNA.
Kim blamed officials at multiple institutions involved in the ship's design and construction, including the government's Munitions Industry Department, the Mechanical Institute of the State Academy of Sciences and Kim Chaek University of Technology, for the incident. He warned that their "irresponsible errors" would be dealt with at a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party central committee next month.
The accident "brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse," Kim said, and ordered the ship to be restored before the June meeting.
Wednesday's event marked the second introduction of a new warship by North Korea in recent weeks, with Pyongyang unveiling its 5,000-ton Choe Hyon destroyer at the Nampo Shipyard on April 25. That vessel is armed with a wide range of weapons, including supersonic cruise missiles and strategic cruise missiles, according to North Korean reports.
Photos released by the North showed that the Choe Hyon's missile and radar systems resemble those found on Russian vessels, prompting speculation that Pyongyang received technical assistance from Moscow in its development.
North Korea has deployed troops, artillery and weapons to Russia to aid in Moscow's war against Ukraine, and is believed to be receiving much-needed financial support and advanced military technology for its own weapons programs.
"It is highly likely that North Korea received up-to-date military technology from Russia in exchange for its troop dispatch," South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong-weon said after the Choe Hyon was unveiled.
The warship damaged during the launch accident appears to be similarly equipped to the previous vessel, South Korea's military said Thursday.
"Considering the size and scale, [the vessel] is expected to have similar equipment to the Choe Hyon," Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-joon said during a press briefing Thursday.
Lee said that the North attempted to side-launch the warship from the quay -- a technique that U.S.-based analysis website 38 North said last week had never been observed in North Korea.
"The use of this launch method could be one of necessity, as the quay where the ship is being built does not have an incline," the 38 North report said.
"We have assessed that the side launching failed," Lee said, adding that the vessel remains partially capsized in the water.
Hours after it announced the warship accident, Pyongyang fired multiple cruise missiles into the sea between Korea and Japan, the South's military said.
In a text message sent to reporters, the JCS said that it detected the launch at around 9:00 a.m. from the area of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province.
"Detailed specifications are being analyzed by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities," the JCS said. "Our military is maintaining the posture to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation while keeping a close eye on developments in North Korea."
The launch was the second by Pyongyang this month, following its test of short-range ballistic missiles on May 8.
North Korea launches probe into warship launch accident
Seoul (AFP) May 23, 2025 -
North Korea has begun an investigation into an accident that occurred during the launch of a new warship this week, state media said Friday, assessing the damage as "not serious".
North Korea said Thursday that "a serious accident occurred" at the Wednesday launch ceremony for the newly built 5,000-ton naval destroyer, in which sections of the bottom of the vessel were crushed -- with leader Kim Jong Un calling the mishap a "criminal act".
South Korea's military said US and Seoul intelligence authorities assessed that North Korea's "side-launch attempt" of the ship failed, and the vessel was left listing in the water.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), however, said Friday that an "underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, unlike the initial announcement, there were no holes made at the warship's bottom".
"The hull starboard was scratched and a certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section through the rescue channel," according to KCNA.
The extent of damage to the vessel was "not serious", it said, adding it was "necessary to make clear the cause of the accident".
The North on Thursday had blamed "inexperienced command and operational carelessness" for the destroyer's botched launch, which was observed by Kim who called it a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness".
Hong Kil Ho, the manager of the shipyard in the eastern port city of Chongjin where the accident took place, was summoned by law enforcement on Thursday, KCNA said on Friday.
Experts estimated it would take "two or three days to keep the balance of the warship by pumping up the seawater from the flooded chamber", the report said.
It would take around 10 days to restore the destroyer's side, it added.
Based on its size and scale, the South Korean military said the newly built warship is believed to be similarly equipped to the 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel, Choe Hyon, which North Korea unveiled last month.
North Korea has claimed the Choe Hyon was equipped with the "most powerful weapons", and that it would "enter into operation early next year".
Seoul's military has said the Choe Hyon could have been developed with Russian help -- possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Ukraine.
Analysts say the warship involved in Wednesday's accident may have also been constructed with Russian assistance.
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