Kim Jong Un tours destroyer as Pyongyang marks 80th Workers' Party

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured the new 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon at a military exhibition and presided over a nighttime military parade in Pyongyang this week marking the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers Party, state media and regional officials said. The displays of new naval and strategic weapons underscore Pyongyang's intensified push to modernize its forces and its growing diplomatic ties with China and Russia.

State media released photographs of Kim inspecting the Choe Hyon, showing him accompanied by senior officials as he viewed crew quarters, the bridge and a combat command center equipped with multifunction consoles. During the visit, Kim urged the navy to use its capabilities to "thoroughly deter or counter and punish the enemy's provocations," state reports said. The Choe Hyon class, unveiled in April, is described by North Korea as a multipurpose destroyer equipped with supersonic cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and vertical launch systems.

Satellite imagery analysts based in South Korea reported recent signs that engines were installed on the ship, raising the possibility of imminent sea trials. Naval analysts have noted...