07/09/2026
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un's Speech at Commissioning Ceremony of Destroyer Kang Kon
Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a speech at the commissioning ceremony of the destroyer Kang Kon.
The full text of his speech is as follows:
Admirable workers of Chongjin and Rajin shipyards and talented persons of the technical teams in the shipbuilding and defence science sectors,
Sailors of the destroyer Kang Kon and brave officers and other sailors of our Navy,
Dear Wonsan citizens,
Comrades,
Today we are greeting another noteworthy moment in the course of our advance for accelerating the buildup of our powerful naval forces.
Three months ago, the destroyer Choe Hyon sounded a whistle of its commissioning on the West Sea of Korea, and today a ceremony for commissioning another destroyer is being held in splendour here on the East Sea of Korea.
This is a remarkable reality that showcases the speed of change of our Navy.
I would like, first of all, to pay my heartfelt tribute to the workers of Chongjin and Rajin and the sci-tech teams in the shipbuilding and defence industry sectors who have unsparingly devoted their patriotic sweat and passion for this significant day of etching new coordinates in the course of strengthening our maritime sovereignty in the new era.
Comrades,
The excitement and emotion I feel today is beyond description as a ceremony that injects new strength into our Navy is being held not anywhere else but at this historic port.
If there is a most heart-gladdening and emotive historic moment in the history of building our nation and our armed forces, that will be today.
In this September, 81 years ago, the ranks led by Comrade Kim Il Sung landed here at Wonsan Port by a warship on a triumphant return to their country which they had so missed.
Mooring now at the harbour, where the Kaeson put into on that historic day, is a destroyer of a new generation that gives a glimpse into our naval capability and its development.
At the port, where the anchor of national liberation was dropped with a cheerful dream, our destroyer will raise its anchor with a far-reaching ambition of sailing to the ocean.
From this very moment, not just in the near future, that powerful naval combat complex will put out to sea to defend the national sovereignty and write the first page of its log, reflecting the desire of the great people.
As the great ambition for a prosperous country with a strong army harboured by the small Kaeson is now to be carried forward to the vast ocean by this ultramodern warship at this very memorable port, this emotion will remain in my memory forever.
I am really glad to share this historic emotion with you comrades.
The forerunners, who, at this port, stepped on the soil of their country, are not here now, but they would share their desire with us today, I am sure.
The primary significance of the commissioning of the Kang Kon, held in splendour in the meaningful September, is that we are proudly raising the anchor of building a maritime power at the place where the anchor of national liberation was dropped.
Today this port has gained a new significance as a historic place, where the warships of our Republic will raise anchor one after another to defend our national sovereignty and security in every way, and as an area, which will exhibit the uninterrupted improvement of our naval combat capability.
Comrades,
We are now seeing historic things symbolically showing the past and present of our naval combat capability.
That warship at the quay by the museum over there is just the Kaeson.
That warship represents our past and this one before us, our present.
Nothing can explain more impressively than this what turn has been brought about now by a history in which it was impossible to hold the esteemed man, benevolent liberator of a country and nation and founder of a state, in all respect and sincerity.
What we should pay attention to is that a more important thing than this historical comparison or the dramatic contrast that is clearly visible is the fact that such a change has been made in only two or three years.
As I have already stated, the workers, scientists and technicians of our generation have accomplished the thing, which had failed to be done for nearly 80 years since the founding of our Navy, with the enthusiastic support of all the people and amid their expectations.
Modernization of the naval armaments has always been an essential requirement for the geopolitical factors of our state, and the efforts of the Korean people desirous of a powerful navy have never stopped, but until a few years ago our Navy failed to have warships commensurate with its mission and military achievements.
Of course, it may also be attributed to the military and strategic demands of the past and present times, but this is not the only reason.
To tell the truth, this is related with our history.
It reflects the peculiarities and arduousness of our revolution and the history of hardship which we were compelled to experience inevitably for that, and contains a myriad of stories beyond what we know and have seen.
It is by no means easy to arm the Navy this much under the situation in which everything is difficult as it is now.
But by transcending everything, we evaluated the needs of history and the present times with a responsible attitude and viewpoint towards the thoroughgoing security of the present and future, and valiantly confronted challenges in our own way of calculation.
Such attitude and new awareness doubled the self-consciousness and sense of mission of our generation never to pass over to the coming generations the great historic cause of building a powerful navy in line with the position of a maritime nation that is bounded by the sea on both sides.
The course of naval modernization can be said to be a process of adhering to the principle of bringing ability in step with a goal set by the times, instead of setting a goal based on the calculation of ability, and a process of attaining the goal without compromise or delay under any circumstances.
But for the viewpoint, stand, courage and calculation method that there should be the will to attain an aim before a guarantee for the attainment of it is provided, our Navy would have still remained in the past.
Our future cannot be bought with financial resources.
We are a people who cannot wait.
The Kang Kon is a manifestation of the sense of self-respect and will of this Korea and the crystallization of its indomitable spirit to defend its rights and interests, before being an ensemble of our economic, defence and sci-tech strength.
The commissioning of the new-type destroyer here today will be an important occasion for redoubling our will of, and our motive power for, transformation amid genuine recollection.
Comrades,
Our Navy has eagerly waited for the moment when a new-type destroyer of ours would leave its wake just here on the East Sea, not elsewhere.
Today we are witnessing with our own eyes how the aspirations and dreams the Korean people have cherished for ages are coming true.
In the past, because of the limitations of our military equipment, we had no other alternative but to leave the enemy warships move rampantly around our territorial waters as they wanted, although we had such great courage and mettle to defend the seas of our country firmly. Such a thing of the past shall never be repeated.
The security of our country is exposed to constant and direct threats from all sides–on the land, in the air and on the sea–and the first and foremost of them is what comes from the East Sea of Korea and the neighbouring waters.
No waters can be found around any other country than ours where warships of the belligerents appear any time to move and deploy nuclear assets and conduct joint war rehearsals freely, using our waters as a theatre for tracking and inhibiting even our legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence.
These days we have often witnessed here the tireless efforts of our enemies to improve their readiness for war against us.
Our national security is now under serious threat posed by the open hostile military actions of the enemies to wreck the regional stability.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea can never allow such phenomena to go unheeded any longer.
Dangerous shadows must be removed as early as possible.
We must cope with these threats resolutely by employing quite a professional and overwhelming power, with a willingness to use it and a sufficient ability for it.
In this sense, the commissioning of the Kang Kon has virtually incomparable significance, although it is identical in terms of class and weaponry to the Choe Hyon which was already delivered to the West Sea Fleet.
The proclamation of the commissioning of this virtually attack destroyer itself is enough to inform the world of our views and attitudes.
The fact that the warship has officially been commissioned to the naval group on the East Sea, and the information that naval bases are under construction on the East Sea will give a clear signal to the enemies, who will inevitably find themselves in deep distress.
It is high time we exercised our sovereignty properly both on and under the sea.
We have become able to use stronger and more deadly power.
We will exercise the legitimate right to self-defence and respond as much as necessary.
The results of our views and efforts are successfully preventing the geopolitical threat from the enemies.
We need to change faster.
As I mentioned at the previous commissioning ceremony for the Choe Hyon, the change of our Navy does not simply mean that its vessels are becoming larger and that the shipborne weapons systems are getting further modernized.
The most important change and the most significant progress worth mentioning is that it is a source of the greatest fear for the enemies.
It means that the programme of equipping our Navy with nuclear weapons has been realized so as to become more suitable, diversified and practical for the use of their deterrence.
By further bolstering up the powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent, we should develop for an actual war the multifaceted and efficient operation of nuclear combat systems and make clearer the military activities for maritime defence and war deterrence.
It is the constitutional duty of the armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to safeguard the absolute security of the state, maintain the strategic stability and the balance of forces in the region and contain geopolitical threats.
The responsible activities and important role of our Navy will strictly restrain the enemies' aggressive fleets and surely result in forcing them to make a strategic retreat.
As was proved yesterday and is proved today, there is no other option for safeguarding peace than maintaining the balance of forces.
Our stand is clear.
We should make the enemies fear us.
Only when the enemies fear us, can they never dare provoke us, and can we defend the peace and development environment of our country.
In order to cope thoroughly with the existing, lurking and prospective threats, we must continue to build up overwhelming military muscle.
I emphasize once again.
We will deploy the most powerful strategic assets in the most important waters in order to show our principled and responsible will to defend the maritime sovereignty of our Republic, the security environment in Northeast Asia and the global peace, and also make a great contribution to this end.
Comrades,
Our state's security and our national interests have never been separated from the defence of maritime sovereignty, and a powerful navy is a stout pillar for national defence and a reliable means for exercising national sovereignty.
Like the goals all maritime countries pursue, we must put the modernized naval weapons systems on the axis for deterring and fighting a war so as to defend today and the future.
We should make the world know what we are doing and how we are preparing ourselves to defend our rights and interests with a bolder decision and a faster and perfect result.
The appellation for the strong and for a power in the 21st century can be obtained only by making ceaseless efforts and can be won without any regret only by bringing about vigorous innovations and upsurge.
Our massive plans include the building and commissioning of warships of various types which are compatible with the two aspects of war deterrence and fighting of war and which can satisfy such needs, the modernization of shipyards and the construction of infrastructure, the reorganization of the naval forces and the establishment of new units. These are great undertakings our generation must accomplish without fail.
We should make clearer our courageous stance and efforts to implement these tasks of the present times and push ahead with them at top speed.
Today marks another new start in the relay which should continue uninterruptedly.
We are now carrying out an important plan for the buildup of the naval forces.
I will prove this to the world once again eight months later.
Comrades,
Our warships going out to wider waters must sail across the boundless ocean valiantly at full throttle.
Let us dash unremittingly until we can satisfy our steadfast will to defend our national sovereignty and lofty self-respect.
Commanding officers and other sailors of the destroyer Kang Kon,
You will soon be assigned with a strategic mission.
It is because this warship is a means and force included in the country's nuclear counteraction system.
You ought to play an important role through your responsible service.
As the first crewmen of the destroyer, you, with the pride and mettle of standing in the most responsible position in safeguarding the country, should prepare and train yourselves thoroughly to perform various tasks in different circumstances and in this way you can record only victorious battles in the history of the destroyer.
If our enemies dare to have recourse to armed force against us, I will order you to use our absolute strength, which would deal the most fatal blow to them.
You must deal an annihilating retaliatory strike to the enemies if such an order is issued at any time.
The professionalism and bravery you would display and the unlimited strength you have possessed will further boost the fighting efficiency and fame of our East Sea Fleet.
I hope that the ensign fluttering over the Kang Kon will always shine radiantly as a symbol of dignity and honour, a banner of victory and feats, of our Navy.
Brave sailors of the destroyer,
Forward for our great motherland! -0-
