North Korea Successfully Recovered The Position Of Overturned Warships During Launch

JAKARTA - North Korea appears to have managed to recover the partially overturned class Choe Hyun destroyer during the failed launch ceremony to an upright position, US researchers said on Wednesday.

Commercial satellite imagery from June 2 showed the destroyer was upright for the first time since May 21, the 38 North program, which studies nuclearly armed North Korea, said in a report.

"Commercial satellite images show workers at ports in Chongjin have taken significant steps towards that goal," 38 North said in its report.

Workers are seen pulling the rope, and may use a barrier balloon, in a manual attempt to straighten the ship, he added. The image shows the bow of the ship is still on the ground, with possible damage to its sonar.

"To repair this, the ship needs to be moved from water to a large floating dry dock or shipping dock after floating," said 38 North.

"However, Chongjin shipyard does not provide this infrastructure," he added.

Leader Kim Jong-un, who witnessed the launch of a failed 5,000 tonne warship, said the crash undermined the country's dignity and pledged to punish those responsible.

Since the accident, North Korea has said it has detained several officials, and Kim ordered that the new tab be removed before the ruling party meeting this month.

Separately, military experts say east coast shipyards have produced most cargo ships and fishing vessels and lack significant expertise in launching large warships such as new destroyers.