A newly built North Korean destructive that was damaged during an attempted launch this week may have suffered irreparable damage, analysts said, while the Communist Nation authorities have decided to arrest officials.
According to a report Thursday of the Beyond Parallel project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSI, the ship “can ultimately prove to be a complete loss”.
The Washington -based reflection group said that the launch failure is “an embarrassment for (leader) Kim Jong Un and the Popular Korean Navy in North Korea” and would disrupt Kim's plans to transform the navy from a coastal defense force to blue water, capable of “strategic offensive operations”.
The attempt to launch the second destructive of Missiles guided in Choe Hyon in North Korea shot on Wednesday at the Hambuk shipyard (Chongjin). The 5,000 -ton warship has switched laterally, leaving one side of its submerged shell.
Kim called this “serious and unacceptable accident” and a “serious criminal act”, the state agency managed by the state.
CSIS said that the stern of the ship seems to have swayed in the port after the rolled bogies supported the framework of the destructive had slipped from their traces, while the arc remained stuck on the side calendar of the shipyard.
The satellite imagery shows the warship now covered with blue tarpaulins and surrounded by crane barges and support ships, with several cranes stationed on land.
'Hard and defective launch'
North Korea has recognized the launch failure, attributing it to “inexperienced command and operational negligence”. The Korean central press agency, or KCNA, reported that holes in certain parts of the background of the warship have disrupted its balance, suggesting a possible violation of the hull during the failure of the launch.
External military experts have raised doubts about the survival of the ship. Moon Keun-Sik, a former South Korean submarine captain and guest professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, Destroyer told Radio Free seemed to have fully capsized. He said that the severe inclination probably indicates a large hull violation, perhaps allowing sea water to reach inside and deactivate the engine.
Although the lateral launching method used on Wednesday is not technically demanding, Moon said that precipitation from North Korea to finish launch may have compromised security. He said that repairs could take longer than Pyongyang had not claimed.
“Rear damage could be extended,” said Moon. “If salt water entered the engine compartment, the consequences could be serious. It seems that the diet was under pressure to present its naval capacities and its cooperation with Russia, which probably led to a hasty and ultimately defective launch.”
The Captain of the US Navy retired James Fanell, who was previously the intelligence chief for the 7th American fleet and the Pacific fleet, told RFA that the incident could reflect internal pressures within the Naval Development Program of North Korea.
“It is reported that the North Korean navy has launched its first new destructive using the floating method of the dry dock, which worked well,” he said. “Why was the Hambuk shipyard was used to launch the second destroyer via the management method of management could be a reflection of the pressure that Kim Jong a [military] To increase the size of the North Korean navy more quickly. »»
In response to failure, Kim Jong One issued severe criticism, targeting several institutions, including the Munition Industry Department, the State Academy of Sciences, the University of Technology of Kim Chaek and the Central Ship Design Institute, reported the North Korean media.
North Korea called no holes in the bottom of the ship
While North Korea has shown an unusual deductible in the accident declaration, its state media seemed to minimize the extent of the damage. After initially recognized a hull breach, KCNA said on Friday that inspections had found “no holes in the bottom of the ship” and only a limited seawater intrusion through a rear compartment.
The North Korean government estimated that it would take two to three days to drain the flooded compartments and separate the arc from the restoration of balance to the warship. Repairing the starboard shell would then require around 10 additional days.
On Thursday, an official of the Ministry of Unification of South Korea told Seoul journalists that Kim's investigation pointed out to repair the destroyer before a plenary meeting of the June worker party suggests that damage may not be irrecoverable.
Experts are not convinced. The future of the ship – and the chronology of Kim to transform the navy into a blue water force – seems uncertain.
Shipyard Manager in question
KCNA reported on Friday that an official survey team made up of government agencies and technical experts had started a large -scale survey on the failure of the launch.
KCNA said that on the basis of preliminary conclusions, the Korean workers' central military commission has asked the legal authorities to arrest individuals who are clearly responsible for the incident. Chongjin's Director General of the Chongjin shipyard, Hong Gil-Ho, was summoned for interrogation on Thursday, he said.