South Korean media suggests Kim Jong Un’s hair greyed by warship debacle stress as vessel is finally refloated

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was showing visible signs of stress, including greying hair, following the embarrassing warship launch failure on 21 May, South Korean media claimed.

According to Korea Now, Mr Kim’s greying strands were drawing widespread attention, even overshadowing his decision to demote a top military official and detain others involved in what he called a “criminal act” that had damaged national dignity.

The outlet claimed that Mr Kim’s first public appearance since the botched launch had prompted speculation that the stress from the incident could be taking a visible toll.

The warship, a Choe Hyon-class destroyer, capsized as it was being launched in the presence of Mr Kim. However, satellite imagery from 2 June showed it had been brought upright, though still damaged and stuck at the bow, North Korea monitor 38 North programme, said in a report.

Workers were seen manually pulling tethers and possibly using barrage balloons to upright the vessel, according to the report. The images showed the ship’s bow still grounded, with potential damage to its sonar system, Reuters reported.

“To repair this, the ship will need to be moved out of the water to either a large floating drydock or graving dock once afloat,” 38 North said. “However, Chongjin’s shipyard does not offer this infrastructure.”

It noted, however, that the “commercial satellite imagery shows workers at the port in Chongjin have taken a significant step towards that goal”.

“The vessel’s current position – upright but with the bow on the launch mechanism – suggests they may intend to repair the bow first.”

Mr Kim unveiled the Choe Hyon in April as the country’s first new destroyer in decades and announced plans to expand its naval fleet with more destroyers, cruisers and frigates. The capsized ship was Pyongyang’s second known destroyer.

Its botched launch remains an embarrassment for Mr Kim, who is keen to strengthen his navy to counter what he describes as US-led military threats.

State media KCNA called the launch failure a “serious accident” that had happened due to “inexperienced command and operational carelessness”.

In the wake of the accident, North Korea detained several officials, including the shipyard’s chief engineer.

Mr Kim described the incident as a “criminal act caused by sheer carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which should never occur and could not be tolerated”, according to KCNA, and ordered the ship to be restored.

Shipyard workers reportedly used large white balloons around the partially submerged 5,000-tonne warship to prevent it from sinking.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies showed the vessel tipped on its side and covered under blue tarps. Although the exact purpose of the balloons was uncertain, experts suggested they were likely being used to aid in the rapid repair of the destroyer, according to CNN.

“It looks like what appear to be balloons have been installed not to refloat the ship but to prevent it from further flooding,” Yu Yong Weon, a South Korean National Assembly lawmaker and military analyst, told the outlet.