This file photo shows Pyongyang's new navy destroyer unveiled at a launching ceremony held at a shipyard in the North's western port city of Nampho on Apr. 25. (Yonhap)
This file photo shows Pyongyang's new navy destroyer unveiled at a launching ceremony held at a shipyard in the North's western port city of Nampho on Apr. 25. (Yonhap)

North Korea said Thursday a "serious accident" occurred the previous day during a ceremony to launch a new warship, with its leader Kim Jong-un calling it a "criminal act" that could not be tolerated.

The accident took place Wednesday at a shipyard in the eastern port city of Chongjin during a ceremony to launch a newly built 5,000-ton destroyer, attended by the North's leader, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

Citing "inexperience command and operational carelessness" in the course of the launch, North Korea said a "serious accident" occurred as the launch slide of the stern departed first and was stranded while the flatcar failed to move in parallel.

Some sections of the warship's bottom were "crushed," destroying the balance of the warship, and the bow couldn't leave the shipway, it reported.

After watching the whole course of the accident, Kim said, "It was a serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility and could not be tolerated," according to the KCNA.

He ordered the restoration of the warship to be "completed unconditionally" before a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea set for June and gave an important instruction related to an investigation into the accident.

"The immediate restoration of the destroyer is not merely a practical issue but a political issue directly related to the authority of the state," Kim said.

The political bureau of the WPK decided to convene the 12th plenary meeting of the party's central committee in late June to review the first-half performance and policies for the second half, the KCNA said in a separate dispatch.

In April, North Korea unveiled its new 5,000-ton multipurpose destroyer, named the Choe Hyon, as part of its efforts to enhance its naval power. It said the warship is equipped with supersonic strategic cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and other strike means. (Yonhap)