North Korea’s Kim Jong Un inspects munitions plants, lauds increased shell production

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected munitions factories that make shells and machinery, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

Kim lauded the shell factory for increasing production to “four times the average-year level” and playing “an important role in increasing the basic combat power” of North Korea’s armed forces, KCNA said.

North Korea has provided “billions of dollars worth of missiles and shells” to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine as well as deploying about 15,000 troops, South Korean lawmakers said last week citing the country’s spy agency.

This gave Russia a battlefield advantage in the western Kursk region and has brought the two economically and politically isolated countries closer.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Chris Reese)