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15-08-2023
PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected key munitions factories, including a tactical missile production plant, and ordered a “drastic” boost in the manufacturing of missiles, rocket-launcher shells and other weapons, according to state media.
The inspections, reported on Monday, are the latest in a string of visits by Kim to defence facilities, where he has emphasized the mass production of weapons.
It comes as South Korea and the United States prepare for annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. It also comes as officials in the US said they believe Russia is seeking North Korean weapons for its war with Ukraine.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim visited factories producing tactical missiles, mobile launch platforms, armoured vehicles and artillery shells on Friday and Saturday.
During a stop at the missile factory, Kim set a goal to “drastically boost” production capacity so the facility can mass produce missiles to meet the needs of front-line military units, KCNA said.
“The qualitative level of war preparations depends on the development of the munitions industry and the factory 
bears a very important responsibility in speeding up the war preparations of the Korean People’s Army,” Kim said, according to the report.
Visiting other factories, Kim called for building more modern missile launch trucks and said there is an urgent need to boost production of large-calibre multiple rocket launcher shells “at an exponential rate,” the report said.
Kim also drove a new utility combat armoured vehicle, KCNA said.
Kim has been focusing on enlarging his nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes diplomacy with former US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Since the start of 2022, Kim’s military has conducted more than 100 missile tests, many of them in the name of warning the US and South Korea over their expansion of joint military training exercises. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
