North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un visited the new 5,000-ton-class destroyer "Choe Hyon-ho." An electronic sea chart of the area near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea was displayed on a monitor inside the destroyer, and Kim appeared to be receiving a briefing and giving orders.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 6th that on the 5th Kim Jong Un toured the navy destroyer Choe Hyon-ho as part of a visit to the arms equipment exhibition "Defense Development-2025," accompanied by party and government, defense and security agency senior officials.
Kim Jong Un received a briefing from the captain on Choe Hyon-ho's main armaments and said it was "another great demonstration of the justice and vitality of the self-defensive defense line."
Choe Hyon-ho was named after the soldier Choe Hyon, a former guerrilla. Choe Hyon's photograph and statue are placed inside the ship. Choe Hyon is the father of Supreme People's Assembly Standing Committee Chairman Choe Ryong Hae. It was launched on Apr. 25.
Regarding this, Kim Jong Un said it was "to ensure that the brave spirit and noble ethos of the anti-Japanese fighters carry over as the character of the new generation of marines and become the eternal nourishment of an indomitable fighting spirit."
Kim Jong Un said, "For national sovereignty and security interests, for the eternal calm of the waters of the motherland, the formidable capability of our navy must be exercised on the vast oceans to thoroughly deter and retaliate against enemy provocations."
Korean Central News Agency also released interior photos that appear to show the bridge and combat control room of the Choe Hyon, as well as a dining hall, medical facilities, and sleeping quarters. An electronic sea chart near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea was displayed, blurred, on a console in the combat control room.
In a photo that appears to show Kim Jong Un spreading a map with officials and discussing operations, a passage can be seen that reads, "The area of activity to safeguard the national interest cannot be confined only to territorial waters (…) and naval power must advance to the open oceans."
Choe Hyon-ho is a "North Korean Aegis destroyer," equipped with a four-face phased array radar and a composite air-defense weapon similar to Russia's "Pantsir." In the first arms equipment test launch at the end of April, it conducted test launches of a supersonic cruise missile, a strategic cruise missile, and an anti-air (air-defense) missile. Following Choe Hyon-ho and Kang Kon-ho, North Korea has a plan to build additional new Choe Hyon-class destroyers by Oct. 10 next year.