North Korea Deploys New Destroyer Ganggeonho in East Sea... Kim Jong Un Emphasizes "Naval Nuclear Armament"

As South Korea, the United States, and Japan launched the regular multi-domain exercise 'Freedom Edge' on September 7, North Korea deployed its new 5,000-ton-class destroyer, Ganggeonho, to its East Sea fleet. North Korea has classified Ganggeonho as a force belonging to its “national nuclear response system,” signaling an acceleration in the strengthening of its maritime nuclear capabilities.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reported by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency to be saluting the destroyer Ganggeonho as it set sail for its maiden voyage after the commissioning ceremony at Wonsan Port on the 6th. 2026.9.7 Yonhap News Agency

According to Rodong Sinmun, the commissioning ceremony for Ganggeonho, the second vessel of the Choehyeon-class destroyers, was held at Wonsan Port the previous day, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in attendance. Following the commissioning of Choehyeonho to the West Sea Fleet in June, the same class of new destroyer has now been deployed to the East Sea as well.

Notably, North Korea has assigned Ganggeonho the role of nuclear war deterrence. Kim Jong Un defined Ganggeonho as both a "means and asset included in the national nuclear response system," and claimed that "the nuclear armament of our navy is being realized, making deterrence more suitable, diversified, and practical for use."

Kim Jong Un also claimed that North Korea is under direct threat in the East Sea and nearby waters. He stated, "There is no place on earth where the warships of adversarial forces routinely appear around a country's coast, moving and deploying nuclear assets and conducting joint war demonstrations without restriction, using those waters as a stage to track and deter even the legitimate exercise of self-defense."

Kim Jong Un also announced additional plans to strengthen the country's naval power. "We are currently carrying out important plans to strengthen our naval forces," he said, adding, "I will prove them to the world again eight months from now." However, he did not specify what these "important plans" entailed.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, analyzed the deployment of Ganggeonho as “an implementation of a sea denial strategy, designating the East Sea as a major security threat zone and forward-deploying Ganggeonho to the East Sea to deter South Korea, the United States, and Japan's joint naval exercises and deployment of nuclear assets directly and within operational range.” Regarding the new plans to be revealed “eight months later,” he explained, “This could go beyond simply building additional vessels, potentially signifying the unveiling of large-scale strategic assets such as new submarines equipped with submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), in order to maintain diplomatic and military initiative.”

The Ministry of Unification is closely monitoring related developments. At a regular briefing on this day, Yoon Min-ho, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, stated, “After the commissioning of the destroyer Choehyeonho in the West Sea in June, a destroyer was now also commissioned in the East Sea. The nuclear armament of the navy was discussed at the 9th Party Congress in February and we see this as an extension of that development.” He added, “We will continue to closely monitor relevant developments.”

Meanwhile, from September 7 to 11, South Korea, the United States, and Japan are conducting Freedom Edge in the international waters east and south of Jeju Island, aiming to enhance their deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.