(MENAFN) In an uncommon public concession, North Korea has announced the commencement of an inquiry into the unsuccessful deployment of a naval vessel that occurred earlier this week, as reported by official state media.

According to a news agency, “No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged, and those responsible for it can never evade their responsibility for the crime.”

This statement underscores the regime's strong condemnation of the incident and its intent to hold those at fault accountable.

The investigation’s preliminary findings contradict earlier declarations.

The news agency clarified that, rather than damage to the base of the ship, “there were ‘no holes made at the warship's bottom, the hull starboard was scratched and a certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section through the rescue channel.’”

These revelations suggest a different nature and extent of the damage than initially conveyed.

The malfunction took place during the commissioning of a freshly constructed 5,000-ton class destroyer at the eastern dockyard in Chongjin.

The failure occurred as the rear of the vessel descended before the front, causing physical impairment to the structure and preventing the ship from successfully departing the launching platform.

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