Kim commissions destroyer Kang Kon as US, South Korea and Japan start Freedom Edge

North Korea put its second 5,000-ton destroyer into service at Wonsan on 6 September, a day before the United States, South Korea and Japan opened a five-day naval and air exercise off Jeju. Kim Jong Un told the commissioning crowd that the ship Kang Kon belongs to the state's nuclear counteraction system and should deal a deadly retaliatory blow.

Kang Kon is the second ship of the Choe Hyon class, after the lead ship entered service on the west coast in June. KCNA said the new hull will work the sea east of the peninsula. Kim said the time had come to exercise sovereignty at sea and underwater, and that the days of watching enemy warships on the fringe of North Korean waters were over.

The same hull capsized during its first launch in May 2025. Kim called that a criminal act. The ship was repaired and relaunched the next month. Sunday's ceremony was framed as recovery. Kim's daughter, widely identified as Ju Ae, stood beside him in a white suit, took salutes, appeared on the stadium screen and boarded the ship. Seoul's National Intelligence Service has told lawmakers it still sees steps to present her as successor.

What the class is built to carry

Choe Hyon-class destroyers displace about 5,000 tons and are the largest warships North Korea has put in the water. KCNA and later analysis say the class can carry missiles that can take a nuclear payload. KCNA did not say on Monday that Kang Kon is already loaded with nuclear weapons. Kim's words placed the ship inside the nuclear response system. That is the claim that matters for the neighbours.

The lead ship Choe Hyon is assigned to the Yellow Sea. Kang Kon is assigned to the Sea of Japan. Two hulls on two coasts is the naval picture Pyongyang wanted to show before Freedom Edge began.

What Freedom Edge put to sea

South Korea's Joint Chiefs said Freedom Edge runs Monday to Friday in international waters east and south of Jeju. The stated purpose is to practise against North Korean nuclear and missile threats. The three navies are sailing six Aegis-equipped destroyers plus maritime patrol aircraft, fighters and tankers.

South Korea listed the 7,600-ton ROKS Yulgok Yi I and ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong. Japan listed the 7,700-ton Atago, the 5,100-ton Asahi, P-1 patrol aircraft, SH-60K helicopters and F-15 fighters. The US Navy's Arleigh Burke-class USS Benfold arrived in Busan last week and is expected in the package. A joint exercise control group is running the five days.

Pyongyang has called the trilateral series a reckless show of strength. Kim on Sunday pointed to what he called ramped-up war preparations by adversaries. The calendar made the argument for him: commission on Sunday, allied ships in the water on Monday.

North Korea now has two modern destroyers after decades in which its fleet was built around smaller missile craft and ageing frigates. How well the radars, vertical launch cells and crews work is a separate question from the ceremony. The political fact on 7 September is simpler. Kim put a repaired ship into the nuclear script, his daughter stood on the deck, and six allied Aegis ships started a drill the same week off Jeju.