North Korea adds its 2nd naval destroyer as U.S., South Korea and Japan hold military exercise

North Korea is dialing up pressure on the U.S. after rebuffing President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back a military drill with South Korea in a conciliatory step toward Kim.

SEOUL, South Korea — 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 U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral military exercise he views as a security threat.

The ship’s commissioning comes as North Korea is dialing up pressure on the U.S. 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 U.S. concessions.

The destroyer Kang Kon was commissioned into North Korea’s navy in the eastern port city of Wonsan on 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 dressed in a white dress and blazer walking alongside her father on a red carpet, touring the warship and posing with sailors together.

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The ship and the Choe Hyon, which was put into service in June, are both 5,000-ton destroyers that state media said can carry various conventional and nuclear weapons. Considered North Korea’s biggest and most advanced warships, the two destroyers were most likely built with Russian assistance, experts say. In July, North Korea said it test-fired nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the Kang Kon.