(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim inspects Nampho shipyard, calls for rapid naval buildup

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SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the Nampho Shipyard and called for a rapid buildup of naval combat power to counter "hostile acts of the enemies," state media said Wednesday.

Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection at the shipyard Monday, where he was briefed on the shipyard's ongoing upgrades and inspected a new warship under construction, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"It is vital and important requirement of the times to rapidly bolster up the surface and underwater combat power for defending the national sovereignty in the sea under various threats," Kim said.

"The recent geopolitical environment and hostile acts of the enemies in the region" prove the need for "the most developed and powerful warship," he added.

The report said Kim expressed "great satisfaction" with the new warship, which he said "is incomparably huge and browbeating than the destroyer built last year."

While the report did not provide the ship's specifications, it said the vessel is "designed to carry out its complex operational mission in consideration of the present-day warfare."

One of the five photos published by the KCNA showed part of the ship's hull, suggesting the new vessel could be in the 10,000-ton class that Kim previously mentioned in outlining the regime's plan to build large warships.

At the June 23 commissioning ceremony of the 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon, Kim called on North Korea to build two warships every year of the Choe Hyon class or larger, including 10,000-ton class vessels.

"North Korea appears to have unveiled, for the first time, the construction site of a new vessel believed to be a 10,000-ton cruiser," Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, said after comparing the new photo with those of a 5,000-ton destroyer released in March last year.

On efforts to modernize the shipyard, Kim called for automating the production process, constructing a second ground dock so ships can be built and repaired at the same time, and fixing the "irrational" layout of its buildings.

"The advanced and hi-tech shipbuilding base is essential for building a powerful naval force which no one can provoke," he said.

North Korea has been accelerating its push to deploy naval assets with nuclear capabilities on both coasts, with the Choe Hyon in the West Sea and the Kang Kon in the East Sea.

In September, the North commissioned the 5,000-ton Kang Kon destroyer, which it called part of a "nuclear counteraction system." It said, at that time, the ship would defend the country's maritime sovereignty as a "nuclear war deterrent."

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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