Rodong Sinmun published articles on August 6 and on August 14 describing Kim Jong-un’s inspection on major munition factories made August 3 to 5 and August 11 to 12 respectively. These two articles mean it is the third time North Korea has made the public known his visit to munition factories since he took power. When its leader visited munition plants, North Korea used to express them as “machine factories” or made such visit private. Since Kim became the successor of his father, the number of visits to munition factories, made public, is 53 times. What is striking about the latest visit is that it is the first time giving details about what weapons are being produced while specifying the facilities as “munition factories.” In that sense, it is fair to say that not only was Kim’s visit unusual but North Korea had a purpose of sending a clear message, internally and externally.
It appears that Kim Jong-un made an official tour to munition factories in the city of Kanggye, Jagang Province August 3 to 5 and did so in South Pyongan Province August 11 to 12. It is the third time Kim has thoroughly inspected such facilities in Kanggye, including the latest visit. Three separate visits by Kim, made in June 2013, June 2019, and August 2023, have something in common: He chose munition factories in Kanggye to signal North Korea’s transition to tough policy, internally and externally. Put simply, it wants to send a message that it would visualize its hard stance and advance its nuclear and missile capabilities.
The two articles mentioned above have used the following expressions the most, such as “modernization” 16 times, “expanding production capability” 10 times, “war preparations” 10 times, “improving precision and quality” 10 times, and “series production” 5 times, in that order. The reports of the inspection by Kim were made to disseminate the message of “swiftly expanding the North’s production,” which literally means “ramping up its production capability” that will naturally lead to mass production.
Mass production of weapons have the following implications: first, North Korea has been pressured and nervous in the wake of the Washington Declaration made between the U.S. and South Korea; second, it hopes to strengthen its cooperation with China and Russia, blaming the U.S. and South Korea for worsening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and beyond; and third, North Korea desperately wants to put psychological strain on the U.S. and the South Korea. Against this backdrop, some of the weapons produced in munition factories are said to have enough specifications to be supplied to Russia, pointing to possible cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
