North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemns warship accident as 'criminal'

+ Destroyer one of the largest warships to be built by North Korea

+ Leader Kim criticises accident for tarnishing state dignity

+ Vessel likely side-launched, a method not tried for warships

+ North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles, Seoul says

Seoul, South Korea - A serious accident occurred on Wednesday during the launch of a new North Korean warship while Kim Jong Un was attending the event, with the isolated state's leader calling it a "criminal act" that could not be tolerated, state media KCNA reported.

Kim, who witnessed the failed launch of the 5,000-ton destroyer, excoriated the accident as caused by "carelessness" that tarnished the country's dignity, and ordered the ship to be restored before a key ruling party meeting in June, KCNA said on Thursday.

The report did not mention whether there were any casualties.

KCNA said the incident at the northeastern port of Chongjin was caused by a loss of balance while the vessel was being launched and it said sections of the bottom of the warship were crushed, but it did not give more details of damage sustained.

"Kim Jong Un made stern assessment saying that it was a serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility and could not be tolerated," KCNA reported.

Kim said the accident "brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse", adding an immediate restoration of the destroyer was "not merely a practical issue but a political issue directly related to the authority of the state."

South Korea's military said the stricken warship was lying sideways in the water after the failed launch.

The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States had been monitoring the activities in advance, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.

Later on Thursday, South Korea's military said the North fired multiple cruise missiles around the time its state media reported the failure of the warship launch from an area south of the port. It did not provide further details on the missiles.

The rare public disclosure of an accident follows a report of the launch of another destroyer of a similar size in April, also attended by Kim, at the west coast shipyard of Nampho.

North Korea has previously experienced accidents such as space launch vehicle failures and civilian disasters that have subsequently been used to promote the role of the leadership and the ruling Workers' Party in correcting the problems.

The 5,000-ton destroyers launched by North Korea this year are the country's largest warships yet, part of leader Kim's push to upgrade its naval power by adding vessels capable of carrying and launching dozens of missiles to its fleet.

In a report last week on preparations for the latest launch, U.S.-based 38 North said it appeared the ship would be side-launched from the quay.

Such a method has not been previously observed in launching warships in North Korea, according to military analysts.

"The use of this launch method could be one of necessity, as the quay where the ship is being built does not have an incline" to move the vessel stern first into the water, the 38 North report said.

Commercial satellite imagery of the shipyard the day before the launch showed the destroyer positioned on the quay with support vessels by its side and its missile tube magazines exposed.

A North Korea expert based in Seoul said Pyongyang's disclosure was surprisingly swift.

"It shows again Kim Jong Un's ruling style of cutting off negative rumours from spreading and controlling officials more forcefully by being open about it rather than hiding it," said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee, Jack Kim, Josh Smith, Hyunsu Yim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies, Stephen Coates and Saad Sayeed)