According to the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency, Kim, accompanied by key military and party officials, conducted a two-day inspection of the 5,000-ton Choe Hyun on Tuesday and Wednesday to "observe its crew members' combat and political training and the shakedown to assess its operational capabilities."
Overseeing the test launch of sea-to-surface strategic cruise missiles from the destroyer, Kim Jong-un said it was an "important core element in estimating the operational capabilities of the warship."
Praising its sailors for "having achieved successes," Kim was also quoted as saying, "The tests of operational efficiency of the new-type destroyer, a new symbol of our state's sea defense capability, are going smoothly as planned."
"Our Navy will have a powerful offensive capability, which is, in effect, a capability for defending ourselves," he added.
He also called for building more warships of the same class or larger each year under the country's new five-year plans, as part of efforts to strengthen its naval power.
Launched in April last year, the multipurpose destroyer, named after Choe Hyon, a comrade of the nation's founder Kim Il-sung during his days as a partisan fighter, is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
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