North Korea State media said on Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured the country’s major weapons factories, including those making artillery systems and launch vehicles for nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, and detailed his military’s weapons and war preparations. Promised to accelerate efforts to take forward Kim’s three-day inspection until Saturday comes as the United States and South Korea prepare for their next round of joint military drills later this month to deal with the growing North Korean threat.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years as the pace of North Korea’s missile tests and joint US-South Korean military drills, which Kim portrays as invasion rehearsals, have both intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle. Some experts say Kim’s visits to arms factories may also be related to possible military cooperation with Moscow that could include the supply of artillery and other ammunition to North Korea as Russian President Vladimir Putin supports the war in Ukraine. Contacting other countries for.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said that during Kim’s visit to an unspecified factory producing large-calibre artillery systems, he emphasized the factory’s “key responsibilities and functions in meeting the North’s combat readiness”. KCNA said Kim appreciated the factory’s efforts to improve the quality of shells, reduce processing time for propellant tubes and employ “scientific and technological measures” to increase manufacturing speed, but developed new types of shells. Also stressed the need to do and produce.
At another factory that builds launcher trucks designed to transport and fire ballistic missiles, Kim said increasing the supply of the vehicles is a top priority for the military and sought to establish a “solid base” for production. Praised. KCNA said Kim called for a “swift increase” in production at a factory that makes engines for cruise missiles and drones. Kim’s stops included a small arms factory, where he stressed the need to modernize the weapons carried by soldiers. Photos published by state media showed Kim firing at least two different scoped rifles from a table.
In the face of a deepening confrontation with Washington and Seoul, Kim is seeking to raise the visibility of his partnership with Moscow and Beijing as he seeks to break out of diplomatic isolation and galvanize himself into a united front against the United States. have been His tour of the weapons factories followed a massive military parade in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang last month, where Kim stood with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese ruling party while launching its most powerful missiles designed to target South Korea. Joined by party officials. United States.
Shoigu’s appearance at the July 27 parade, which followed Kim taking him on a tour of a domestic arms exhibition, demonstrated North Korea’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and raised suspicions that the North was willing to supply arms to Russia to support its war effort. Cheong Seong Chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said the dual goal of Kim’s visit to the factories is to encourage the modernization of domestically produced weapons and to examine artillery and other supplies that could potentially be exported to Russia.
Cheong said that Kim’s comments about the need to improve the quality of shells at the artillery factory and develop new types of ammunition, which he described as important to the country’s “defence economic projects”, clearly affected exports to Russia. indicates an intention to do so. North Korea is aligning with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the US-led West has forced Moscow to take military action to defend its security interests. But Pyongyang has denied US allegations that it is providing arms to Russia to aid its fight in Ukraine.
Cheong said Kim’s comments at the factory about building missile-launch trucks could indicate that the North is seeing some progress in ramping up production of those vehicles, possibly to target neighbouring rivals and the US mainland. Designed to improve the operational range of its ballistic weapons.
