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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a newly commissioned destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system capable of delivering "annihilating retaliatory strikes", Reuters reported, citing local state media.
The report did not say whether the vessel would carry nuclear weapons.
North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernize its navy as Kim pursues a broader expansion of the country's nuclear-capable forces.
At a commissioning ceremony in the port city of Wonsan on Sunday, Kim said deploying the new ship to the sea east of the Korean Peninsula sent a clear signal to North Korea's adversaries.
"The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater," Kim was quoted as saying.
Kim's daughter, known as Ju Ae, took a prominent role in the ceremony, wearing a white dress suit, standing beside her father to receive salutes, appearing on a giant screen above the cheering crowd and boarding the destroyer, KCNA photographs showed.
Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes that North Korea is continuing to take steps to position Ju Ae as Kim's successor, a South Korean lawmaker said last week, according to Reuters.
The 5,000-ton-class destroyer, the "Kang Kon", is the second warship of its class to enter service, following the commissioning of the "Choe Hyon" destroyer on North Korea's west coast about three months earlier, KCNA cited Kim as saying.
Kim said North Korea's naval nuclear armaments were advancing, and the country would continue to expand what he called its most powerful strategic assets in key waters to protect its maritime sovereignty and regional security.
He added that the Kang Kon would form part of North Korea's state nuclear response system.