Top DPRK leader stresses need to expand missile production capacity

PYONGYANG -- Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), visited major munitions industry enterprises and emphasized the need to enhance overall production capacity to meet the future requirements in the operation of the missile and artillery forces, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.

Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, underlined the need to work out a production plan for 2026 in a development-oriented way to meet the prospective requirements in the operation of the state missile and artillery forces, saying that it is necessary to "reinforce the technical foundations of the relevant production enterprises in a balanced way to further expand the overall production capacity," said the KCNA.

He outlined the technical and economic tasks for doing so, it said.

The missile and shell production sector is of paramount importance in bolstering the war deterrent, Kim said, stressing that the country's missile administration and the relevant general bureau of the Second Economy Commission should make thorough preparations for carrying out the new modernization and production plans to be set forth at the 9th Congress of the WPK.

Kim ratified the draft documents on the modernization of major munitions industry enterprises to be submitted to the WPK's 9th Congress, the report said.