North Korea adds second destroyer

Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put his second naval destroyer into service and called for building a more reliable nuclear deterrent, state media reported Monday, as the United States, South Korea and Japan began a trilateral military exercise he views as a security threat. The ship's commissioning comes as North Korea is dialling up pressure on the US after rebuffing President Donald Trump's decision to scale back a major military drill with South Korea in a conciliatory step toward Kim. Observers say North Korea wants to wrest bigger US concessions. The destroyer Kang Kon was commissioned into North Korea's navy in the eastern port city of Wonsan Sunday at a ceremony attended by Kim and his teenage daughter, whom South Korea's spy service calls his likely heir. North Korean state media photos showed the girl in a white dress and blazer walking alongside her father on a red carpet, touring the warship and posing with sailors. The ship and the Choe Hyon are both 5,000-ton destroyers.