Five arrests after the disastrous launch of the warship: Kim Jong-un purge « will cost North Korea some of its best naval engineers »

North Korean recovery teams they work tirelessly to straighten the destroyer inverted on a side at sea during The laid off miserably Wednesday 21 May. After the shock, Pyongyang claims that the recovery will be quick. Further in a hurry, the commission of investigation is operating on the disastrous launch of the unit. There Kcnanews agency of the regime, reports that Already five officials of the Chongjin shipyards have been arrested For what Kim Jong-un has called « a crime that has damaged dignity and pride of the nation ».

The first to be summoned (and detained) by Pyongyang investigators is iThe director of the Chongjin construction sites, on the eastern coast of the peninsula. The press of the regime, usually hermetic on disciplinary issues, this time published the manager’s name on Friday 23 May: it is Hong Kil Ho, that In March he had led Marshal Kim to visit the plants: In those days the propaganda had released the order to accelerate the times for the modernization of the North Korean fleet. There Kcna He wrote that Hong according to the commission of inquiry « is clearly responsible for the accident », a summary and record sentence. According to western analysts, Hong identification suggests that The director will be used as the main scapegoat of the bankruptcy who infuriated the head of the regime.

Sunday 25 other three arrests: The chief engineer of the Kang Jong Chol construction sites, the head of the construction of the hull of the destroyer, Han Kyong Hak, the deputy administrative director Kim Yong Hak. These were also stamped as « guilty of bankruptcy ».

This purga confirms the forecast of Andrei Lankov, a scholar of Korean question based in Seoul, according to which the disastrous launch under Kim’s eyes (who had gone to Chongjin to attend the event) « will cost North Korea some of his best naval engineers ». The punished list came to five Monday 26 Maywith a higher -grade arrest: Ri Hyong Son, deputy director of the Ministry of Munition. This official was also immediately declared « strongly responsible for the serious accident ».

In these days therefore, Pyongyang has provided South Korean and western intelligence with an unusual amount of information. Of course, the satellites that constantly scrutinize the North Korean territory have documented the disaster, providing images of the 5,000 tons -reversed destroyer on the right side. But in the face of other failures, particularly in the launches of new missiles, Pyongyang had always silent. This time Kim Jong-un has ordered regime propaganda to inform public opiniongiving her the names of technicians and managers who will at least advise against their sentence in prison.

It is not just an emotional reaction that of Marshalbut probably an operation of « limitation of damage ». Many witnesses had to be present at the ceremony, as was documented on April 25 when in the port of Nampho Kim he had led the launch of the first launcher destroyer of the new Choe Yon class: it is therefore impossible to completely obscure the gun. And then, Pyongyang’s print explains that the rapidity of the investigation must « serve as a recall and deterrent For irresponsible and unscientific behavior in all fields ».

All the fault of the subordinates of the Marshal, then? Expresses a basic doubt of the center for strategic and international studies of Washington, according to which Chongjin construction sites were not up to the task imposed by Kim to launch a destroyer belonging to the largest class of ships in the North Korean Navy. According to this analysis, so far only small loaded ships had come out of Chongjin, fishing boats and dredging boats. Furthermore, for the first hunt of the Choe Yon series, propaganda had enhanced the speed of the construction in Nampho: « four hundred days ». It is possible that the rapid tender pushed the managers of Chongjin to give up many safety prescriptions in the setting up and in the launch.

The presumed cause of the final failure is the launch system at sea: For the first time, the North Korean technicians used the launching of the warfare for a war ship of remarkable tonn and not the one with the bow slip. According to the chronicle of the Pyongyang Agency A mobile ramp holding the stern got stuck, the hull took a very strong blow And the stability was compromised so much that the boat overturned in the water on its side.

The South Koreans, who boast one of the most advanced naval industries in the world, do not launch war ships next to the work dock, precisely to avoid the risk that the weight of the structure and weapon systems lead to accidents. The director of the Hong Kil shipyards I had to be aware of itbut he probably challenged the fate to please the order of the supreme marshal to give North Korea another jewel of the war in narrow times.