Kim Jong Un and his daughter have been pictured eating with crew as they inspected North Korea's most advanced warship.
Kim visited the destroyer Choe Hyon to check its manoeuvrability and ordered it be handed over to the navy next month as scheduled, reported the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Photos showed his apparent successor, whose public profile has increased in recent years, standing behind him as he spoke to sailors on the bridge.
Last month, Kim also went to the western port of Nampo to watch missile tests from the Choe Hyon and has reportedly ordered two more to be built.
North Korea's most advanced ship was announced last year, but in May 2025 another of the same class overturned in a botched launch ceremony Kim lambasted as "criminal".
The leader of the world's most secretive country also visited a munitions factory on Wednesday to inspect the production of a new long-range artillery system, according to KCNA.
The 155-mm self-propelled gun-howitzers reportedly have a 37-mile (60km) range and will be positioned near the border with South Korea later this year.
Kim was quoted as saying it would provide "a rapid extension of striking range and remarkable improvement of striking capability".
North Korea already has artillery systems near the border, only about 25 to 30 miles from Seoul's 10 million people.
However, these weapons draw less attention than its ballistic missile programme, whose launches are banned under UN resolutions.
Kim's visits come as South Korea said this week that the North's new constitution no longer had commitments to peaceful unification, reflecting an increasingly tough stance towards its neighbour.
In January 2024, Kim ordered that it be rewritten to scrap the idea of shared statehood, breaking from his predecessors' dream of peaceful unification on the North's terms.
Read more:
Kim's daughter could be considered successor, spy agency says
North Korea conducts test for missile capable of striking US mainland
It is a blow to South Korea, whose liberal government wants more dialogue and has made gestures such as stopping propaganda broadcasts over the border.
Diplomacy with the US also appears to have dried up since Kim Jong Un's historic meetings with Donald Trump over its nuclear programme in 2018 and 2019.
(c) Sky News 2026: North Korea's Kim Jong Un and daughter eat with crew on new warship Choe Hyon
Badenoch was asked about Britain's 'number one priority' - her answers were surprising
An extraordinary watershed moment passed below the radar - and helped make Trump's war possible
White House calls Mark Hamill 'sick individual' for Trump grave post
Labour Party on course to suffer one of its worst-ever electoral defeats
Shell gives update on costly war damage to its output
EU waters down landmark AI regulation amid industry pressure
