North Korea has detained four officials who it says are responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, which outside observers say was damaged much more than the country has disclosed.
The detentions came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over Wednesday's incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held accountable for their “unpardonable criminal act.”
Satellite imagery showed the vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged. North Korea says it will take about 10 days to repair the damage, but outside observers question that timeframe because they suspect the damage is much worse.
Here is what you need to know about the failed ship launch:
How much damage was there to the ship? The official Korean Central News Agency said Friday the severity of the damage to the 5,000-ton-class destroyer was “not serious" as it canceled an earlier assessment that the bottom of the hull had been left with holes.
According to The Associated Press, KCNA said the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater had flown into the stern. It said it needs 10 days to pump out the seawater, set the ship upright and fix the scratches. KCNA said Monday that the work to restore the ship's balance was being conducted as scheduled.
It's almost impossible to verify the assessment because of the extremely secretive nature of North Korea. It has a history of manipulating or covering up military-related setbacks, policy fiascoes and other mishaps, though it has periodically acknowledged some in recent years.
Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea, said the North Korean warship likely has flooding in its engine room located in the stern and holes in the starboard side. He said North Korea could simply set the ship upright, paint it over and claim the ship has been launched, but that repairs could take more than a year as the replacement of an engine requires cutting the hull.
Why the ship's launch failed According to the North Korean account, the destroyer was damaged when a transport cradle on the ship's stern detached early during a launch ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin.
Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said North Korean workers are probably not familiar with launching a 5,000-ton-class warship, which is a few times heavier than its existing main navy ships.
Observers say North Korea tried to launch the destroyer sideways, a method it has never used for warships, although it has previously employed it with big cargo and passenger ships.
Compared with those non-military vessels, Lee said it would be more difficult to maintain balance with the destroyer because it's equipped with heavy weapons systems. He suspected North Korean scientists and officials likely did not factor that into their plans.
How Kim has reacted The damaged ship is assessed as the same class as North Korea’s first destroyer, launched with great fanfare last month with a floating dry dock at a western shipyard. It is North Korea's biggest and most advanced warship, and Kim called its construction “a breakthrough” in modernizing North Korea’s naval forces to cope with what he calls US-led security threats.
Subsequently, a failure to launch the second destroyer was an embarrassment. But by disclosing the failure, Kim could be trying to show his resolve in building greater naval forces and boosting discipline at home. He ordered officials to repair the warship before a ruling Workers’ Party meeting in late June.
KCNA said that law enforcement authorities detained Ri Hyong Son, vice director of the munitions industry department at the ruling Workers Party’s Central Committee, who said it was “greatly responsible” for the failed launch.
KCNA reported Sunday that the authorities also detained three officials at Chongjin Shipyard — the chief engineer, head of the hull construction workshop and deputy manager for administrative affairs. It earlier reported that Hong Kil Ho, manager of the Chongjin shipyard, had been summoned for questioning.
"No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged, and those responsible for it can never evade their responsibility for the crime,” the North's Central Military Commission said in an instruction to the investigation team on Thursday, according to KCNA.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea appeared to be using the failed launch as a chance to strengthen the ruling party's control over science and technological sectors.
Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said that North Korea’s handling of the damaged warship could have long-term consequences for its defense science sector.
“If scientists are held severely accountable, I would say the future of North Korea’s defense science doesn’t look very bright, as it would be a sign that political responsibility is being prioritized over technical accountability,” Lee wrote on Facebook.
