North Korean leader pledges to speed up country's military output as experts say he may supply arms to Putin's Russia
Kim Jong-un has toured North Korea’s key weapons factories and pledged to speed up efforts to advance his military’s arms and war readiness, state media reported.
Kim’s three-day recent inspections came as the United States and South Korea prepared for their next round of combined military exercises due later this month to cope with the growing North Korean threat.
The inspections included trips to factories producing artillery systems and launch vehicles for nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest level in years as the pace of North Korea’s missile tests and the joint US-South Korea military drills, which Kim portrays as invasion rehearsals, have both intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle.
Some experts say the leader’s tour of the weapons factories could also be related to possible military cooperation with Moscow that may involve North Korea supplying artillery and other ammunition to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, as he reaches out to other countries for support in the war in Ukraine.
During Kim’s visit to an unspecified factory producing large-calibre artillery systems, he stressed the factory’s “important responsibilities and tasks in perfecting (the North’s) war readiness”, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim praised the factory’s efforts to employ “scientific and technological measures” to improve the quality of shells, reduce processing times for propellent tubes and increase manufacturing speed, but also called for the need to develop and produce new types of shells, KCNA reported.
At another factory manufacturing launcher trucks designed to transport and fire ballistic missiles, the leader said increasing the supply of the vehicles was a top priority for the military and complimented workers for establishing a “solid foundation” for production.
At a factory producing engines for cruise missiles and drones, Kim called for “rapidly expanding” production, KCNA said. His visits also included a small arms factory, where he stressed the need to modernise 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 deepening confrontations with Washington and Seoul, the North Korean leader has been trying to boost the visibility of his partnerships with Moscow and Beijing as he tries to break out of diplomatic isolation and insert himself into a united front against the US.
His tour of the weapons factories comes after a giant military parade last month in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, where Kim was joined by Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, and a Chinese ruling party official.
Mr Shoigu’s presence at the July 27 parade demonstrated North Korea’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and added to suspicions the country was willing to supply arms to Russia to support its war efforts.
Dr Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute, said Kim’s visits to the factories likely had a dual goal of encouraging the modernisation of domestically produced weapons and examining artillery and other supplies that could possibly be exported to Russia.
The North Korean leader’s comments at the artillery factory about improving the quality of shells and the need to develop new types of ammunition, which he described as key to the country’s “defence economic projects”, clearly communicate an intent for exports to Russia, Dr Cheong said.
North Korea has been aligning with Russia over the war in Ukraine, insisting that the “hegemonic policy” of the US-led West had forced Moscow to take military action to protect its security interests. However, Pyongyang has denied US accusations that it has been providing arms to Russia to aid its fighting in Ukraine.
Dr Cheong said Kim’s comments about making missile-launch trucks could indicate that the North is seeing some progress in increasing the production of those vehicles, which would potentially improve the operational range of its ballistic weapons designed to target neighbouring rivals and the US mainland.