Kim Jong Un Pushes More Missile, Artillery Shell Output

According to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, up to half of Russia’s ammunition supply now depends on North Korea.

A photo shows what the North Korean regime says is a test-firing of a new type of intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Jan. 6, 2025. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to expand production of missiles and artillery shells and to build more munitions plants, as Pyongyang seeks to meet its growing needs and bolster the war deterrent.

Kim issued the instructions while visiting “major munitions industry enterprises” to review fourth-quarter missile and shell output, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Dec. 26. The report did not specify when the inspection took place or where the facilities are located.

During the visit, Kim called the ammunition sector “of paramount importance” for strengthening the country’s “war deterrence” and said factories should “further expand overall production capacity to keep pace with” what he described as the military’s growing demand, KCNA reported.

He also ratified draft documents laying out new “modernization and production plans” for the munitions industry, which KCNA reported will be submitted to the next congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, expected in early 2026.

North Korea Continues to Arm Russia

Kim’s renewed emphasis on expanding munitions production comes as North Korea continues to export weapons to Russia, whose full-scale war against Ukraine is approaching a fourth year.

There have been numerous reports of North Korean-made short-range ballistic missiles being launched at Ukrainian cities, including one that the Ukrainian government says hit a residential district in Kyiv in April, killing 12 people.

According to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, up to half of Russia’s ammunition supply now depends on North Korea.

“Currently, North Korea is covering 35 [percent] to 50 percent of Russia’s ammunition needs, shipping about 200,000 to 260,000 shells of 152 mm and 122 mm calibers each month,” Ukrainian intelligence officer Oleh Aleksandrov told the state news agency Ukrinform in October.

In addition to shells and missiles, Pyongyang has also sent thousands of North Korean soldiers to help defend Russia’s Kursk region against a Ukrainian incursion, under a pact signed by Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to each other’s defense if either side is attacked.

Ukrainian intelligence estimates that between 8,500 and 13,000 North Korean troops are currently stationed in the Kursk region, allowing Moscow to redeploy its own forces to the front lines in Ukraine. There are also about 6,000 North Koreans engaged in construction work in parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation.

Neither Russia nor North Korea has publicly disclosed the scale of any deployment or casualties. In April, however, South Korean lawmakers cited a briefing by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service estimating about 4,700 North Korean casualties, including roughly 600 deaths.

Kim’s Nuclear Submarine Ambition

Kim’s push to expand munition output follows separate KCNA reports this week highlighting other military programs. On Dec. 25, KCNA released images of Kim visiting a shipyard at which North Korea said it is building an 8,700-ton “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine.”

Photos showed Kim inspecting a large vessel under construction inside an assembly hall, accompanied by senior officials and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, who is thought to be about 12 or 13 years old.

It was the first time since March that North Korean state media had published images of the submarine, after previously showing only the lower sections of the hull.

Kim was quoted as saying that his program is a response to South Korea’s plan to develop a nuclear submarine in an agreement with the United States.

KCNA also reported that Kim oversaw a test-firing of a new “high-altitude” long-range surface-to-air missile over waters off North Korea’s east coast, with the South Korean military confirming that it had detected the launch.