Kim Jong-un orders 2.5-fold increase in North Korea's ballistic and cruise missile production

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the country's ballistic and cruise missile production capacity expanded to 2.5 times its current level within five years.

According to KCNA and the ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, Kim visited a key defense industry facility on Saturday to inspect the state of major weapons production in the first half of 2026.

During the visit, Kim received a briefing from the Missile General Bureau on its production expansion plan. He said scaling up existing capacity 2.5-fold on an annual basis over a five-year plan period — to meet the sharply increased missile requirements arising from revisions to the operational groupings and combat formations of the country's armed forces — was "a core task of great significance."

Kim also directed that the production expansion plan be placed on the agenda of the upcoming second plenary session of the ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party.

He expressed satisfaction that the defense enterprises had completed their first-half major weapons production plans ahead of schedule and were accelerating preparations for second-half work. Kim also issued a series of directives on production and management, saying enterprises must "strictly establish quality control regulations and order, thoroughly observe the requirements of the product inspection process, and further improve product quality."

The inspection was attended by Jo Chun-ryong, party secretary; Kim Jong-sik, first vice director of the party's munitions industry department; Jang Chang-ha, director of the Missile General Bureau; Pak Jong-chon, adviser to the Ministry of National Defense; and Kim Kang-il, vice minister of national defense and director of the Equipment General Bureau.