The Warship taught us about Kim Jong UN regime

When the new warship in North Korea was in the sea of ​​launch last month, it made international headings. News organizations follow every development, from successful discharge to it Relund on Friday.

But why is such an interest, given no casualties, and hull damage appeared to be a little minor?

The intrigues have little to do with failure himself and more how Kim Jong UN reacted.

Kim right now The failure was criticized As “a criminal act” “unpuly”, saying it harms the country’s “dignity”. He commanded to restore the ship immediately, and responsibly were punished. Four party officials were arrested later.

This hostile outburst, followed by ship repair on the ship, taught us many parts of the North Korean regime, whose moves are often difficult to know.

First, it reveals how severe North Korea builds about the construction of a nuclear armed navy.

Although there was a nuclear arsenal, growing in size and sophistication, and a large standing soldier, North Korea’s Navy was considered inferior to its enemies, with some of the strongest sea fleet.

“Kim Jong UN nuclear weapons is the only way he can protect his country, and even all the ships of the sea,” said Choi Il, a retired South Korea Navy captain.

Therefore, almost from the beginning of his reign, Kim ended up building a modern and powerful navy, with nuclear weapons.

This warship is a major first step toward this purpose. This is one of the two North Korean diminaries that build last year, the first launched successfully in April. The weight of 5,000 tonnes, it is the greatest warships in North Korea, and are capable, in theory, to firing nuclear short missiles.

According to Mr Choi, now leading submarine research in South Korea research, it is more rare for a deterrent to this type of building and launching a technology that should build one.

It can be “a shameful incident” for Kim Jong UN, he said, as it “promotes the limitations of Shipbuilding in North Korea”.

Worse yet, this project in the main flagship fails in his eyes. Kim attended a shipwreck ceremony, with his daughter and a herd of viewers.

“North Korea is aware of appearing. I thought they were planning a whole series of shows, so Kim couldn’t help Mr Choi.

But North Korea propaganda experts believe that there is more to outburt of Kim Jong or outburs than raw anger and humiliation.

The choice of announcing the arrest of what he did was a deliberate political strategy, as they were, and Kim showed the inclination to the regime.

Rachel Married Lee from Washington-Based Stimson Center, analyzing North Korea propaganda for decades, explained how it became a major propaganda in Kim propaganda.

Before Kim arrives, and even in the first years of his rule, the regime will hide any negative as a means to control the account.

But as information begins to spread more freely in North Korea, it is harder to cover major events.

“The leadership was decided that it was about to try to try and hide what people know, and more effectively showing the people they trust the problems,” says Me Lee.

“Now, if you have a problem, you have announced it, you call responsible, and people show that if you can’t imagine everything.

In the case of warship, this strategy appears to work more effectively. Repair is over ahead of the schedule, for more than three weeks, preventing expectations of sea experts.

“Fastest launch shows how a failure can be a political success,” says Kim Dong-Yum-Yam, a helper professor at the University of North Korea studying Seoul.

But he and others say Kim used this event not only the success of the project but to strengthen the loyalty of the people of the regime and a steady part of his rule.

The ship hanging as it was launched on sideways from the port to the sea – a complex manipulation of Maritime – and the part of the bow hit the ramp. But instead of presenting it as a technical failure, Kim Jong UN admits that the incident is due to “absolute distractions and not responsibilities.”

On the contrary, he praised a worker dead in the construction of the ship, for “putting his blood and sweat” in the project.

“They rejected his death symbol of devotion, to strengthen people’s loyalty,” Professor Kim Dong-y Yomp.

Instead of now Kim Jong UN as a bad God as the case for his father and grandfather, they raised loyal worker, he said. “It is a great shift in North Korea management technique and shows Kim Joong UN ability to adapt and control narrative”.

The largest takeaway for Ms Lee, the propaganda expert, so “North Korean reaches anything they set.”

“They set this purpose with a nuclear armed navy, and now they show them their trip to achieve that”.

No one thinks they can build those who destroy only one year, or repair this injury a month, but they, they want, their nuclear and the world’s first doubts.

The retired captain of Navy agreed Mr Choi. “People can look at this episode and laugh, and think ‘Oh, North Korea is far away’, but it makes it important to grow”, he says.

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“We need to be vigilant and prepare so,” he said.

Further reporting through Hosu Lee and Leehiya Choi.