The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported today (May 26): "Why did North Korea publicly report the destroyer launch accident? Although the severity of the accident was shocking, what was more unexpected was that North Korea rarely admitted the accident openly. The state media of North Korea has carried extensive and continuous reports on this incident. Why is this so?"

On last Wednesday (May 21), in front of the highest leader Kim Jong Un, a new 5,000-ton warship of North Korea slipped off the slipway during its launching, lost balance, and damaged part of its hull. Kim Jong Un condemned it as a "serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility, and unscientific empiricism." So far, three shipyard officials have been detained, including the chief engineer, the supervisor of hull construction, and the deputy manager of administrative affairs of Chongjin Shipyard. Kim Jong Un has ordered an urgent repair of the warship before the June Workers' Party meeting.

First, let's learn about this destroyer. This ship will become North Korea's second naval destroyer, while the first destroyer, "Choe Hyon" (named after a famous guerrilla fighter during the Japanese colonial period), was unveiled last month.

The state media of North Korea said that the design purpose of this ship is to carry weapon systems, including ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with nuclear capabilities. Experts said that the "Choe Hyon" destroyer is the most advanced destroyer so far in North Korea, and Kim Jong Un called it a key step for North Korea to expand its nuclear strike capability.

Comment: North Korea's public reporting of the destroyer launch accident may have multiple considerations. From North Korea's own perspective, North Korea has always attached great importance to national military construction. Although this incident is an accident, the public reporting shows North Korea's pursuit of rigor and science in military development. Kim Jong Un condemned it as a "serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility, and unscientific empiricism," indicating that North Korea has high standards and strict requirements for the construction of military equipment, and will not tolerate such mistakes. It conveys a serious attitude towards military projects to the public and the army, which helps to rectify relevant work styles and processes.

In addition, the state media of North Korea has extensively and continuously reported on this matter, to some extent breaking the stereotype of North Korea being "information opaque" held by the outside world. In the past, some Western forces often used this to hype up North Korea's "mystery." This time, the public reporting of the accident demonstrates North Korea's sincerity when facing problems, reducing the space for groundless speculation and false rumors from the outside world. It also allows the international community to see the real situation of North Korea's military development process, reducing misunderstandings caused by information asymmetry.

Meanwhile, North Korea's active order to urgently repair the warship before the June Workers' Party meeting shows its determination and ability to solve problems, highlighting the resilience of its military construction. It indirectly implies that North Korea will not stop the modernization of its navy due to one setback. It indicates that North Korea is accelerating the modernization of its naval power and expresses its confidence in eventually building a stronger navy.

According to the report, the cause of the accident was due to unfamiliar command and careless operation leading to the failure of ensuring parallelism of the cradle, resulting in a series of serious consequences. This shows that North Korea has considerable room for improvement in technical aspects of destroyer launching, such as debugging the launching equipment of the slipway and training operators. At the same time, the fact that part of the hull bottom was punctured may also reflect that there are gaps between North Korea and international advanced levels in terms of ship materials and structural design. This reminds the North Korean Navy to pay more attention to technological research and development and accumulation in subsequent shipbuilding plans.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833161093519559/

Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views only.