Seoul, 23 May

North Korea is seeking to arrest those responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, as it denied the warship suffered major damage — a claim quickly met with outside skepticism.

A statement from North Korea on its handling of the botched launch came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over an incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held responsible for an “unpardonable criminal act.”

Satellite imagery on the site showed vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged. North Korea says it'll take about 10 days to repair its damage, but outside observers question that timeframe because damage to the ship appeared much worse than what North Korea claims.

How much damage was there to the ship

North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, said Friday that the severity of the damage to the 5,000-ton-class destroyer was “not serious" as it cancelled an earlier assessment that the bottom of the hull had been left with holes.

It said the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater had flowed into the stern section. But it said it'll take a total of 10 days to pump up the seawater, set the ship upright and fix the scratches.

Why the ship's launch failed

According to the North Korean account, the destroyer was damaged when a transport cradle on the ship's stern detached early during a launch ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday.

How Kim has reacted

The damaged ship is assessed as the same class as North Korea's first destroyer, launched with great fanfare last month with a floating dry dock at a western shipyard. It is North Korea's biggest and most advanced warship to date, and Kim called its construction “a breakthrough” in modernising North Korea's naval forces to cope with what he calls US-led security threats.

Subsequently, a failure to launch the second destroyer was an embarrassment for Kim. But by disclosing it to both internally and externally, Kim could be trying to show his resolve in modernising naval forces and boost discipline at home. He ordered officials to thoroughly investigate the case and repair the warship before a high-level ruling Workers' Party meeting in late June.

North Korea said Friday the country's Central Military Commission summoned Hong Kil Ho, manager of the Chongjin shipyard, as it begun its investigation of the failed launch.

“No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged, and those responsible for it can never evade their responsibility for the crime,” the commission said, according to state media.