New Delhi, June 27 -- fast patrol boats, diesel submarines, and missile frigates built for short-range deterrence in the Yellow Sea and Korea Strait. On June 23, at the shipyard that built the vessel, that era ended.

Kim Jong Un stood at Nampho Port as the Choe Hyon, hull number 51 and displacement of 5,000 tons, was formally commissioned into the Korean People's Navy. It is the first destroyer North Korea has ever operated. Its 88 vertical launch cells carry nuclear-armed cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles capable of striking targets far beyond any Korean coastline. Kim told the assembled officers that the moment marked the beginning of a new chapter in naval history, dedicated to safeguarding the sacred maritime sovereignt...