Kim Jong-un orders North Korea to boost missile production in 2026

North Korea is to significantly increase its missile and munitions production in 2026, after dictator Kim Jong-un ordered factories to step up production to meet growing demand, state-run media announced Friday.

During a visit to munitions plants accompanied by senior officials, Kim instructed production sites to meet "anticipated requirements for the operations of the state's missile and artillery forces," the KCNA news agency reported.

Kim said it was necessary to "further increase overall production capacity" to satisfy military demands and ordered construction of new ammunition factories, according to the agency.

"The missile and shell production sector is of critical importance in strengthening military deterrence," the leader added.

North Korea has significantly intensified its missile launches in recent years. Analysts say the regime aims to improve precision strike capabilities, challenge the US and South Korea, and test weapons before potentially exporting them to Russia.

Kim has previously affirmed his "unconditional support" for Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, as the two countries' ties have strengthened in recent years, with Pyongyang sending ammunition and thousands of troops to Russia to participate in its war against Ukraine.

The North Korean soldiers have been deployed in Russia's Kursk region, parts of which were seized by the Ukrainian army in a surprise offensive last August.

A monitoring group comprising South Korea, the US, Japan and eight other countries in June classified Russia and North Korea's military alliance as “illegal", saying it flagrantly violates UN sanctions.

The report said their pact was allowing Pyongyang to fund its banned ballistic missile programme.

The group also expressed concern that Russia might also transfer sophisticated technologies to help North Korea enhance its nuclear weapons capabilities.

Part of the same strategy

Just one day earlier, Pyongyang released photographs showing what appears to be a largely completed nuclear-powered submarine hull.

It was the first time North Korean state media released images of the submarine since March, when they mostly showed lower sections of the vessel.

Pyongyang has indicated it plans to arm the submarine with nuclear weapons, calling it a "strategic guided missile submarine" or a "strategic nuclear attack submarine".

Experts believe the North Korean submarine could possibly be tested at sea within months.

A nuclear-powered submarine was one item on a wish list of sophisticated weaponry that Kim announced during a political conference in 2021.

Other weapons included solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, spy satellites and multi-warhead missiles.

North Korea has conducted tests to develop some of those systems and recently unveiled a new naval destroyer, which Kim hailed as a major step towards expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of the country's nuclear forces.