Welcome to North Korea, where a public blunder can have grave consequences—potentially even fatal ones.
This grim reality looms over two senior officials implicated in the recent sinking of a destroyer during a disastrous launch attempt last month. Reports indicate that these individuals have been expunged from state photographs, leading many to fear for their lives.
The ill-fated vessel was the second of its class to be launched from the shipyard in Chongjin, but the operation went spectacularly awry. Evidence of the mishap included attempts to obscure the wreckage with tarps:
The North Korean propaganda video of Kim Jong Un boasting of his new warship’s pending maiden voyage (with Russian music). And the warship sunken, covered with blue tarps to hide from the humiliating inevitability of satellite photos.
Loser. pic.twitter.com/GRbSw1zbIM
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) May 22, 2025
North Korea was about to launch its second destroyer but the navy messed it up and the vessel tipped over on its side and was severely damaged. A furious Kim Jong Un was present at the site when it happened. Heads will be rolling… pic.twitter.com/ckBIgmpRn2
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 22, 2025
And indeed, the fallout was not merely figurative; it appears that heads might literally roll. The state-run Korea Central News Agency downplayed the incident, referring to the damage as “not serious,” while simultaneously labeling it an “unpardonable criminal act” (which, in the context of North Korea, carries significant weight).
Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the calamity firsthand, lamented that the incident “severely damaged the [country’s] dignity and pride” and resulted from “absolute carelessness, irresponsibility, and unscientific empiricism.”
According to the New York Post, the two high-ranking officials involved have been systematically erased from photographic history at the behest of Kim, who holds them accountable for the regime’s failure to launch the ship successfully.
Admiral Kim Myong Sil and Hong Kil Ho, the individuals responsible for the Chongjin shipyard, have been “expunged from the North Korean photographic record,” signaling a dire fate for them.
The warship itself became unstable during its launch, causing significant damage to the hull while the bow remained stuck on the shipway. This catastrophe has raised fears that the officials may have faced execution:
Kim Jong Un erases two officials from months-old state photos, prompting fears they were executed over botched warship launch: report https://t.co/bhVnqp8T2K pic.twitter.com/v62panZWnG
— New York Post (@nypost) June 19, 2025
The two officials were initially visible on the left side of previously released photos, standing near Kim.
In the newly edited versions, their absence is glaring, creating a conspicuously empty space where they once stood.
This method of erasure echoes the practices of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who was infamous for eliminating political adversaries from official photographs—most notably the overt removal of Nikolai Yezhov.
Indeed, this is the grim reality under one of the last true practitioners of Stalinism, a legacy firmly in the grip of the Kim dynasty’s cult of personality.
The Post also reported that Kim is attempting to project an image of normalcy following the ship’s recovery, claiming it as “convincing proof of the rapid transformation of our Navy.”
“No one will doubt, I think, the rapid transformation of our Navy as they have witnessed the launching of another new-type destroyer less than two months after a similar event at the Nampho Shipyard,” Kim boasted. “The super-radical growth of our Navy’s operational capability is now being proved by powerful entities, not by a prediction or possibility, and this has already become an unstoppable, powerful current of history.”
And of course, if you neglect to ensure that this so-called “unstoppable, powerful current of history” doesn’t tip your destroyer over during launch, you might find yourself in a precarious position—quite literally.
In all seriousness, this incident underscores why dealing with North Korea is fraught with irrationality. The accident likely stemmed from the regime’s unrealistic expectations and insufficient resources, leading to dire consequences for those involved.
Such is the tragic theater of communism in action.
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal.
