The commissioning ceremony, held Sunday in the eastern port city of Wonsan, was attended by North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, who called the 5,000-ton vessel "essentially an offensive destroyer" and part of "the state nuclear counteraction system," according to the Korean Central News Agency.

He was accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter Ju-ae.

The Kang Kon's commissioning came a day before the start of a joint military drill between the US, Japan and South Korea which Pyongyang has long denounced as a “war rehearsal.”

"The new-generation destroyer should deal a deadly retaliatory blow at the enemies, as it is a force involved in the state nuclear counteraction system," Kim added.

Kim stressed the need to develop the country's navy into "a nuclear armed force" in order to carry out maritime defense and war deterrence activities "more clearly."

The Kang Kon has been commissioned into North Korean navy's East Sea Fleet.

The destroyer was commissioned less than three months after the North commissioned its first 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon, into the West Sea Fleet.

Early this year, Pyongyang unveiled plans to build two large warships of more than 5,000 tons over the next five years, including 10,000-ton-class warships.