North Korea leader ramping up missile production

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un ordered factories to “drastically boost” missile production in order to get “fully prepared” for any war with enemies, state media reported Monday. 

Kim visited munitions factories, including one that produces tactical missiles, Aug. 11 and 12 and “set forth an important goal to drastically boost the existing missile production capacity” to meet the need of military units on the frontlines, KCNA reported Monday. 

He also said it was “very urgent” to boost production of shells “in keeping with the army’s increased operational demand and thus deploy more shells to the frontline units in depth,” KCNA reported.

“The [Korean People’s Army] should have an overwhelming military force and get fully prepared for coping with any war at any moment so as to prevent the enemies from daring use their armed forces, and surely annihilate them if they launch an attack,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

The focus on increasing missile production comes at a time of increasingly fraught tensions between North Korea and the allied United States and South Korea. The United States and South Korea announced the Ulchi Freedom Guardian summer exercises will begin next Monday and continue through Aug. 31. 

The annual summer exercises were described as the “largest scale ever” and will consist of about 30 field training programs and mobilize tens of thousands of troops from the two countries, according to reporting of the news conference Monday. 

“The exercises are an essential element in maintaining robust combined defence posture in case of emergency – absolutely necessary to respond to the growing military threat from North Korea,” South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said at the briefing, according to Reuters. 

Kim has condemned war drills and last week signed an order to implement “important military measures” to bolster North Korea’s war preparedness.