The Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited factories producing tactical missiles, mobile launch platforms, armored vehicles, and artillery shells on Friday and Saturday. He visited a spate of other munitions factories in early August.
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 (North) 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-caliber multiple rocket launcher shells “at an exponential rate,” the report said. Kim also drove a new utility combat armored vehicle, KCNA said.
Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington announced on Monday that they would stage the Ulchi Freedom Guardian summer war games on Aug. 21-31 to improve their ability to respond to what they claimed as North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
The joint military drill this year involves the "largest scale ever," mobilizing tens of thousands of troops from both sides, as well as some member states of the UN Command, for about 30 field training programs, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
"The exercises are an essential element in maintaining robust combined defense posture in case of emergency - absolutely necessary to respond to the growing military threat from North Korea," Seoul's JCS spokesman Col. Lee Sung-jun claimed on Monday.
RHM/PR
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