SEOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured the country's key weapons factories, including those producing artillery systems and launch vehicles for nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, and vowed to accelerate efforts to advance his military's arms and war readiness, according to state media.
Mr. Kim's three-day inspections ended on Saturday, as the US and South Korea prepared for their next round of joint military exercises later this month to fight North Korea's mounting threat.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached an all-time high as the pace of North Korea's missile testing and joint US-South Korean military activities, which Mr. Kim perceives as invasion preparations, have both increased in a tit-for-tat cycle.
According to some observers, Kim's visit to the weapons factory might be tied to prospective military collaboration with Moscow, which could include North Korean deliveries of artillery and other munitions as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks assistance in the Ukraine war. Mr. Kim's staged visits to the arms factories, according to Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, are possibly aimed at both demonstrating North Korea's military might in the face of US-South Korean drills and communicating an intent to export weapons.
“We express deep regret that North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapons and ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] as well as conventional weapons at the expense of the wellbeing of its citizens,” Mr. Koo said during a briefing.
Mr. Kim, during a visit to an undisclosed plant building large-caliber artillery systems, emphasized the facility's "important responsibility and duty" in further bolstering his military's "war preparations," according to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Mr. Kim lauded the factory's efforts to use "scientific and technological measures" to improve shell quality, shorten processing periods for propellant tubes, and speed up manufacture. According to the KCNA, he also pushed the plant to proceed with the research and large-scale manufacture of new types of munitions.
Mr. Kim reiterated the message during visits to two additional plants, calling the delivery of launcher trucks built to transport and shoot ballistic missiles "a top priority" for the military and urged the "rapid expansion" of production of more dependable engines for cruise missiles and drones.
Mr. Kim was photographed going alongside massive launcher trucks meant for intercontinental ballistic missiles that, according to previous testing, could potentially reach the US mainland. According to KCNA, other images show Mr. Kim using scoped rifles during a tour to a minor weapons facility when he stated that soldiers' weaponry needed to be upgraded.
In the face of growing tensions with Washington and Seoul, Mr. Kim has sought to increase the visibility of his alliances with Moscow and Beijing in order to break out of diplomatic isolation and form a united front against the US.
His visit to the weapons factories follows a massive military parade in Pyongyang last month in which Mr. Kim was joined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official as he unveiled his most powerful missiles aimed at South Korea and the United States.
Mr. Shoigu's appearance at the July 27 parade, which came after Mr. Kim took him on a tour of a domestic military expo, indicated North Korea's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and raised fears that the North was prepared to send arms to Russia to help it fight the war.
Mr. Kim's travels to the plants, according to Cheong Seong Chang, an expert at South Korea's Sejong Institute, certainly had two goals: pushing the modernisation of locally made weaponry and studying artillery and other supplies that may be supplied to Russia.
Mr. Kim's remarks at the artillery facility about enhancing shell quality and the necessity to produce new types of ammunition, which he defined as critical to the country's "national defense economic work," Mr. Cheong said, obviously express an aim for shipments to Russia.
Mr. Koo did not immediately respond when asked if North Korea has ever used the term "national defense economic work" in government pronouncements previously, but described it as "very rare."
“If they meant arms exports with this, then they are openly pledging to violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, and I think that would be deplorable,” Mr. Koo said.
North Korea has sided with Russia in the Ukraine conflict, claiming that the US-led West's "hegemonic policy" obliged Moscow to take military action to safeguard its security interests. However, Pyongyang has refuted US charges that it has sent armaments to Russia to help it fight in Ukraine.
Mr. Cheong believes Mr. Kim's remarks at the factory about making missile-launch trucks could indicate that the North is making progress in increasing production of those vehicles, which could increase the operational range of its ballistic weapons designed to target neighboring rivals and the United States mainland.
