North Korean authorities have arrested more officials allegedly responsible for the capsizing of a new warship last week, according to state media reports on Monday and over the weekend, amid continuing fallout from the embarrassing public failure to launch the vessel.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also said salvage work was on track as of Sunday, the day leader Kim Jong Un appeared to set as the deadline for uprighting the new 5,000-ton destroyer.

State media has now released four reports without photos on the May 21 incident, when the ship’s lateral launch into the water from the quay at the Chongjin Shipyard failed. It tipped over with the front (bow) still attached to the quay and its starboard side submerged in the water.

NEW ARRESTS

KCNA disclosed one arrest in its Monday report after naming three on Sunday and one on Friday, bringing the total so far to five people.

An official “accident investigation group” first recommended the “summoning” to an unspecified “law-enforcement organ” of Chongjin Shipyard manager Hong Kil Ho on May 22, saying he was “clearly responsible for the accident.”

Three additional factory workers — chief engineer Kang Jong Chol, head of the hull construction workshop Han Kyong Hak and deputy manager for administrative affairs Kim Yong Hak — were reportedly “detained” and also labeled “responsible for the accident” on May 24.

A day later, KCNA used stronger language to say Ri Hyong Son, vice department director of the ruling party’s Munitions Industry Department, was summoned and arrested after being found “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident.”

NK News analysis suggests Hong Kil Ho is the man seen leading Kim Jong Un around the Chongjin Shipyard during visits in July 2018 and March 2025. 

As is typical for managers of key military factories, Hong was the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) delegate in 2019 from the 589th district of Malum-dong located near the Chongjin Shipyard.

The other four detainees may have also been present for Kim’s recent shipyard visits, though their faces have not been identified and there is no additional public information about them.

SALVAGE WORK

A detailed KCNA report on Friday claimed that initial assessments of the severity of the damage of the ship were overblown and that it would be possible to make a complete recovery before a major party plenum convenes to discuss the incident in “late June.” 

Now, an additional report on Sunday claimed “no additional damage to the warship was identified” the previous day, and that “the field rehabilitation promotion team is pushing ahead with the plan as scheduled.”

A brief KCNA report on Monday then said that “the work for completely restoring the balance of the warship is being actively conducted under the technical guidance of an expert group according to its schedule.” 

In other words, state media appears to be claiming that work to raise the ship upright has not faced any major new issues.

The Friday report said “experts estimated that it will take two or three days” to upright the ship and detach the bow from the slipway where it was stuck, and “10-odd days to restore the warship’s side” after finding it did not suffer any major damage beyond being “scratched.”

This suggests Kim Jong Un could have considered Sunday — three days after the recommendation was made on Thursday — as the deadline to get the ship out of the water.

However, medium-resolution Planet Labs satellite imagery taken Monday morning suggests the task is taking longer than state media projected, showing that the ship remained in the same position partially attached to the quay and submerged in the water on its side. 

It will be more difficult to determine progress on work to restore the ship’s hull through satellite imagery in the coming weeks given that authorities appear to have covered it with tarps to conceal its capabilities or the recovery efforts.

Planet Labs high-resolution imagery previously revealed that a large temporary observation pavilion for Kim Jong Un was built next to the ship in the days prior to the reported May 21 ceremony, and that it was removed by May 23.

As it was identical in size to the one he used for a large-scale ceremony launching the first of the Choe Hyon-class 5,000-ton destroyer in Nampho in late April, this suggests the ship disaster occurred in front of a crowd of hundreds of people. 

The large number of potential witnesses possibly contributed to Kim’s decision to publicize the incident in state media, while the second KCNA report from Friday also said disclosures of investigations and arrests was meant to serve as “an alarm bell” to deter “irresponsibility and unscientific empiricist attitudes” in all sectors.

It is likely that state media will continue to provide updates in the coming days, as Saturday was the only day it has not done so thus far. 

Edited by Bryan Betts

Updated on May 26 at 4:05 p.m. KST with new satellite imagery taken Monday