North Korea Raises Capsized Warship After 'National Humiliation' Of Botched Launch

Last month we described how North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was left humiliated and outraged after personally witnessing the May 21st botched launch of a new, 5,000-ton destroyer, after which he called it a "criminal act" and a "political issue directly related to the prestige of the state."

North Korea now says Thursday it has successfully raised the capsized warship and moored it at a port in the country’s northeast for repair. KCNA reports that "after restoring the balance of the destroyer early in June, the team moored it at the pier" in the city of Chongjin.

South Korea's military has cited recent commercial satellite images to assess that the 5,000-ton destroyer has indeed been finally restored to an upright position.

The failed side-launch of the ship reportedly resulted in damage to the hull, due to a transport cradle having detached prematurely, allowing the vessel to be wrongly aligned upon entering the water.

North Korean officials are vowing that the "perfect restoration of the destroyer will be completed without fail" before the deadline set by Kim, which is a major ruling party meeting later this month.

Al Jazeera cites KCNA to say, "Experts will now examine the warship’s hull for the next stage of restorations, to be carried out at Rajin Dockyard over the coming week to 10 days."

According to further prior reporting in KCNA, the ship was left with holes torn into its hull, but the outlet didn't report if there were any human casualties. Kim blamed the incident on "unscientific empiricism" and said it "lowered the dignity and self-respect" of the country - or essentially national humiliation.

He ominously promised that consequences would be revealed at the ruling Worker's Party meeting in June, and had set the daunting deadline for the vessel to be repaired by the time of that same event. 

"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," said the Central Military Commission. The manager of the shipyard was immediately summoned by police as they set out to investigate the incident and detain potentially culpable individuals.  

KCNA blamed "inexperienced command and operational carelessness." The outlet reported that the destroyer's starboard hull was scratched, and water entered the stern section.

While the official line is that the damage was "not serious," outside observers have had major doubts. Given the entrance of water, "The propulsion systems and electronic components are likely beyond repair,” a naval construction expert told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.