[Text by Observer Network, Wang Shipin] Nineteen days after the accident, North Korea finally transferred the destroyer to the dock for repair. According to the latest MAXER satellite images, the No. 2 ship of the "Choe Hyon"-class destroyer that capsized on May 21 during its launch has been transferred from the Chongjin Shipyard to the dry dock at the Ryonjin Shipyard for subsequent repairs as of June 8.
According to a report by KCNA on June 6, the on-site repair task force reported the progress of the repair work for the destroyer accident to the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea on June 5. By early June, the ship's balance had been fully restored, and as of the afternoon of May 5, the ship was safely moored at the pier. After a comprehensive status review of the hull by an expert team, the next phase of fine-tuning repairs will be carried out in the dry dock at the Ryonjin Shipyard, with an estimated operation period of 7 to 10 days.
Choe Song-rong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee who is in charge of the on-site repair task force, stated that the ship repair work will be completed before the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.
On May 21, the launching ceremony for the newly built 5,000-ton destroyer at the Chongjin Shipyard was held. Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, attended the ceremony. During the launching process of the new destroyer, a serious accident occurred. Due to inexperienced command and improper operation, the parallelism of the cradle movement was not ensured, causing the stern part of the launching slide to detach prematurely, resulting in some sections of the hull bottom being damaged and the ship losing balance, while the bow part failed to separate from the slipway.
Subsequently, satellite photos showed that the destroyer was righted on June 2 and relaunched on June 5.
Previous photos released by foreign remote sensing image provider "Planet Labs" showed that the bow of the righted destroyer still retained its deck tip section, and the shadow under sunlight also indicated the existence of the tilted stem post, which undoubtedly overturned the previous widespread belief that the bow would need to be cut for repair.
However, the latest MAXER images show that the bridge of this ship has suffered severe damage and requires urgent repair.
The Ryonjin Shipyard is located on the east coast of North Korea, northeast of Chongjin City. Historically, it has produced small missile corvettes referred to by Westerners as the "Ryonjin"-class corvettes and some bulk carriers.
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