In late April, Kim Jong Un arrived in the port city of Nampo, flanked by top officials and elite guards. From the shoreline, he observed as the Choi Hyon, North Korea’s newest guided missile frigate, began her first weapons trial.Footage showed the vessel unleashing missiles across the sky— possibly Hwasal-2s, rumored to be able to carry nuclear payloads deep into international waters. Defense officials worldwide watched in stunned silence, baffled by how a sanctioned nation had built such weapons so fast.After the resounding success of the test, Choi Hyon’s sister ship was prepared for launch with equal fanfare.In an instant, it all went catastrophically wrong, forcing the dictator, who never admits weakness, to publicly acknowledge the humiliation.