North Korea’s newest warship was severely damaged during a launch ceremony Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the accident, saying it brought shame to the nation’s prestige and vowing to punish those found responsible, state media reported.

In a rare admission of failure, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said a malfunction in the launch mechanism caused the stern of the as-yet unnamed 5,000-ton destroyer to slide prematurely into the water, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stranded on the shipway.

Kim called the launch failure “a criminal act” and blamed it on “absolute carelessness” and “irresponsibility” by multiple state institutions – including the Munitions Industry Department, Kim Chaek University of Technology and the central ship design bureau.

According to a South Korean military analysis, the vessel is lying on its side in the water, Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said during a press briefing on Thursday.

Naval analysts said the damage incurred by a vessel in such a launch malfunction could be “catastrophic.” State media did not immediately release images of the accident.

Naval analyst Carl Schuster in Hawaii, after reviewing the KCNA account, said he thinks the stresses would “warp the hull, induce cracks and (possibly) snap the keel depending on where the greatest stress falls.”

The launch failure marks a setback for what analysts have viewed as North Korea’s most ambitious naval modernization effort in decades.

The ship was to be the second major navy surface vessel revealed in quick succession by North Korea. In April, Kim unveiled the Choe Hyon, the country’s first newly constructed destroyer in decades, and declared his ambition of building more destroyers and various cruisers and frigates.

The Choe Hyon, described as a “new generation” warship, was presented with significant fanfare with state media saying it would strengthen naval readiness amid what Pyongyang calls rising threats from the United States and South Korea.

Western defense analysts noted that the Choe Hyon marked a departure from the aging Soviet-era vessels that dominated the Korean People’s Navy. While details remain scarce, satellite imagery and footage suggested the Choe Hyon could share design elements with similar Russian navy ships.

Lee, the South Korean military spokesperson, said the vessel damaged on Wednesday was thought to be equipped like the Choe Hyon.

Wednesday’s incident could cast doubt on the country’s ability to scale its navy. Kim said the damage would be addressed not only through technical repairs, but political accountability.

He ordered the destroyer to be restored before the late June plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party, calling the matter one of national honor.

However, considering the potential degree of damage, analysts said that it would be nearly impossible to meet Kim’s deadline.

A dry dock is a basin facility that can be filled with water to float a ship or drain out to build or repair one.

“Dry dock is an expensive facility, and North Korea probably doesn’t have one… It’s easy to repair a ship in a dry dock after draining water, but they don’t have the facility,” the retired admiral said, adding that restoration could take over four to five months.

South Korean lawmaker and defense analyst Yu Yong-weon said rushing the launch of the ship likely led to the problems encountered on Wednesday and warned hasty repairs could cause more problems down the line.

Schuster said repairs, if possible, are more likely to take months, rather than weeks.

An accident investigation group has been formed, and senior officials may face censure at the upcoming Party Central Committee meeting, an account from KCNA reported.

North Korea’s navy is often seen as the least developed branch of its military. The hastened pace of destroyer development has surprised some outside observers, raising questions about how much of the technology is functional versus symbolic.

Mercogliano, the US professor, said it’s unclear whether Pyongyang’s new warships even have engines as state media has provided no images of them underway.

Armed men hijacked a tourist boat in the Amazon rainforest in Peru, robbed all 14 people on board and forced them to empty their bank accounts via mobile apps, according to one of the victims.

Spanish TikToker Elisabet de la Almudena, who has more than 235,000 followers on the platform, described the ordeal as the “worst day of her life” in a 4.5-minute video uploaded Tuesday.

According to her account, she was part of a 14-person group, including her parents and 6-year-old daughter, that set off on an all-day boat tour from the city of Iquitos, a popular jumping-off point to explore the rainforest.

“We contracted a family tour, a sightseeing tour, and we ended up being kidnapped,” she said.

Four men armed with pistols and a machine gun boarded the boat and sailed it deep into the forest, said de la Almudena, where they took everyone’s belongings and even the vessel’s motor.

“Through mobile phone applications, they asked us to take the money out of our accounts and transfer it to one of their accounts, otherwise they would not leave,” she added.

“I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone,” de la Almudena said.

The passengers then took pieces of wood from the boat and used them to row down the river, where they came upon a family in another boat that towed them to safety, she said.

De la Almudena claimed that the tour company, Canopy Tours Iquitos, had no GPS tracker on the boat, no insurance and no security measures in place, despite the fact that she was later told that this kind of incident has happened in the area before.

“We were completely abandoned by the people that were supposed to look after us,” she said.

In response, Canopy Tours Iquitos said the incident, which occurred on May 14, was a chance event outside of its control that “was immediately reported to the authorities.”

“We activated our emergency protocols straight away, offered our assistance to the affected group and have been actively cooperating with the investigation,” the company said in a Facebook post published Tuesday.

In addition, the company said it would strengthen security measures, including introducing GPS monitoring, closer cooperation with the police and more training for staff.

According to the US State Department, travelers to Peru should “exercise increased caution due to crime, civil unrest, and the risk of kidnapping. Some areas have increased risk.”

In a travel advisory update published May 16, the department underlined that “crime is common in Peru.”

“Petty theft, carjackings, muggings, assaults, and other violent crime often happen even in daylight hours and with many witnesses around. Kidnapping is rare, but it does occur,” it said.