North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered an increase in missile production, state media reported Monday, days before South Korea and the United States begin annual military exercises.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said Kim gave the order on Friday and Saturday during an inspection visit to major factories that manufacture tactical missiles, mobile launch pads, armored vehicles and artillery shells in the country.
During a stopover at a missile factory, Kim aimed to “drastically increase production capacity” so that the facility can mass-produce missiles and meet the needs of frontline military units, according to KCNA.
“The qualitative level of war preparations depends on the development of the munitions industry, and the factory has a very important responsibility in accelerating the army’s war preparations,” Kim said.
In other factories, North Korea’s leader called for the construction of more modern mobile missile launchers and spoke of the urgent need to “exponentially” increase the production of projectiles for large-caliber rocket launchers.
Kim also drove a new armored fighting vehicle, KCNA said, a week after another similar visit to several weapons factories in the country.
The United States and South Korea will begin annual military exercises at the end of the month, which North Korea says are preparations for an invasion, a charge the allies deny.
According to KCNA, Kim said North Korea must have “overwhelming military strength and be fully prepared for any war” with the power to “certainly destroy” the country’s enemies.
In late July, Russian Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu made a rare visit to Pyongyang, where he met Kim Jong-un.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed Shoigu was in North Korea to secure supplies of weapons needed for the war in Ukraine.
“We see that Russia is desperate for support and weapons, wherever they can find them, to continue the aggression against Ukraine,” the American added.
“We see that with North Korea, we see that with Iran, that Russia provided a lot of drones, destroyed civilian infrastructure and killed civilians in Ukraine,” Blinken continued.
Russia, North Korea’s historic ally, is one of the few countries with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations.
Source: DN
