North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered officials to step up production of missiles and construct more factories to meet his military’s growing need for the projectiles, state media said yesterday.
Pyongyang has significantly increased missile testing over the past few years — which analysts said aim to improve precision-strike capabilities, challenge the US and South Korea, and test weapons before exporting them to key ally Russia.
In a visit to munitions factories accompanied by top officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim had ordered the factories to prepare for a busy year ahead.
Photo: AFP, KCNA via KNS
Kim said they needed “to further expand the overall production capacity” to keep pace with demand from Pyongyang’s armed forces and ordered the building of new munitions plants, KCNA reported.
“The missile and shell production sector is of paramount importance in bolstering up the war deterrent,” Kim was cited as saying.
Washington has also pointed to evidence that Russia is stepping up support for North Korea, including providing help on advanced space and satellite technology, in return for its assistance in fighting Ukraine.
Satellite launchers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) share much of the same underlying technology, analysts said.
“With its ICBM program already at a stage widely seen as having achieved core objectives, Pyongyang is likely to further accelerate development next year,” researcher Ahn Chan-il, said.
The country is likely to shift “focus toward testing and producing systems linked to potential exports to Russia — including medium and intermediate-range missiles,” he added.
Kim’s visit was reported a day after state media said he had toured a nuclear submarine factory and vowed to counter the “threat” of Seoul producing its own such vessels with Washington’s backing.
North Korea is expected to “seek advanced military technologies from Russia, including nuclear-powered submarine capabilities and fighter jets, as it looks to address its air force’s relative weakness,” Ahn said.
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