Kim Jong Un is threatening US, Japan and South Korea with its most advanced warship, a 5000-ton nuclear missile carrying destroyers; second warship commissioned as rivals launch drills

North Korea has commissioned a second 5,000-ton-class destroyer, placing another of its most heavily armed surface warships into service as the United States, South Korea and Japan begin a five-day military exercise aimed at improving their ability to respond to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats.

The Kang Kon, commissioned at the eastern port of Wonsan on September 6, is the second vessel of North Korea’s new Choe Hyon-class destroyers. Its entry into service is significant not simply because of the ship’s size, but because Kim Jong Un has explicitly assigned it a role in North Korea’s nuclear response system.