North Korea’s newest destroyer joins nuclear retaliatory system

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a newly commissioned destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system capable of delivering "annihilating retaliatory strikes", state media KCNA reported on Monday, though it did not say whether the vessel would carry nuclear weapons.

North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernise its navy as Kim pursues a broader expansion of the country's nuclear-capable forces.

At a commissioning ceremony in the port city of Wonsan on Sunday, Kim said deploying the new ship to the sea east of the Korean Peninsula sent a clear signal to North Korea's adversaries.

"The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater," Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim's daughter, known as Ju Ae, took a prominent role in the ceremony, wearing a white dress suit, standing beside her father to receive salutes, appearing on a giant screen above the cheering crowd and boarding the destroyer, KCNA photographs showed.