In a recent speech, Kim stated that within just three years of declaring the navy's modernization as a priority, the force has ended a more than 70-year period of stagnation. He noted that the navy, historically the weakest branch of the Korean People's Army, is now undergoing a genuine overhaul from the ground up. While the development of the navy has finally been taken seriously, Kim warned that North Korea lacks suitable maritime bases to host such large warships. He said building modern naval bases has become an urgent necessity, and decisions on this were made at a meeting yesterday.