North Korean supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, was left raging at a launch ceremony after a new North Korean naval destroyer capsized and sank in front of him.
According to Mail Online, Kim watched on in horror as the 5,000-ton ship was severely damaged after failing to launch properly.
He declared the mishap a ‘criminal act caused by absolute carelessness’ that ‘could not be tolerated’.
Kim has ordered the destroyer to be restored before a June party meeting, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The outlet confirmed that during the ceremony on Wednesday, ‘a serious accident occurred’.
In a statement, KCNA said: ‘Due to immature command and operational negligence, the parallel movement of the bogies could not be guaranteed, resulting in the launching sled in the stern detaching first and causing the ship to capsize.
‘The ship’s balance was destroyed due to a rupture in the hull in some sections, and the bow section was unable to detach from the keel.’
Kim was less than impressed by the blunder, saying: ‘This is a serious accident and criminal act that could not have happened and could not be tolerated due to pure carelessness, irresponsibility, and unscientific empiricism,’ the agency reported.
He continued: ‘The urgent restoration of the destroyer is not a simple practical issue, but a political issue directly related to the authority of the country.’
‘It must be completed unconditionally before the June plenary session of the Central Committee of the Party’, he added.
The ship that held the launching ceremony this time appears to be of the same class as the 5,000-ton destroyer Choi Hyun-ho that North Korea launched last month.
Jo Chun Ryong, a secretary in the ruling Workers’ Party, claimed the ship was equipped with the ‘most powerful weapons’ and was built ‘within 400-odd days’.
