SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed factories making missile engines, artillery and other weapons to boost capacity as an important part of bolstering the country’s defense capabilities, state media said on Sunday.
Kim’s inspections from Thursday to Saturday included the production of engines for strategic cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as shells for super large-caliber multiple-rocket launchers and transporter-erector-launchers, said state news agency KCNA.
His unusual visits to multiple arms production facilities over several days come as Pyongyang pushes to develop various strategic and conventional weapons and holds prominent displays of a range of arms.
The launchers Kim inspected are normally used to fire ballistic missiles.
North Korea has tested rocket launchers for larger caliber shells, advanced cruise missiles and last month its newest ballistic missiles, including a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
Kim cited improved precision processing and modernized automation in the production of large-caliber multiple-rocket launcher shells, KCNA said.
He called for the mass production of “various kinds of cutting-edge strategic weapon engines... and thus make a great contribution to bringing about a revolution in developing new strategic weapons of our style,” the agency said.
Photos showed Kim firing different types of assault rifles, with fiery blasts coming off the muzzle as he took aim at a target that was out of frame.
Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korea’s political strategy at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said Kim is likely focused on modernization and technical innovation of weapons that will help with the export of arms to Russia.
Marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War on July 27, Pyongyang held a major military parade displaying its newest nuclear-capable missiles and attack and spy drones, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and a senior Chinese official joining Kim in the reviewing stand.
At a large defense exhibition, Kim gave Shoigu a tour of the display of ballistic missiles and what appeared to be a new drone.
The United States has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine, including a “significant” number of artillery shells, as well as a shipment of infantry rockets and missiles to Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group.
Russia and North Korea have denied those claims.
Kim Jong Un tells North Korea arms factories to boost capacity
https://arab.news/g46zv
Kim Jong Un tells North Korea arms factories to boost capacity
- Pyongyang pushes to develop various strategic and conventional weapons
- North Korea has tested rocket launchers for larger caliber shells and advanced cruise missiles
WHO appeals for $1 bn for world’s worst health crises in 2026
- The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going
GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world’s 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.
WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: “A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.
“In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases,” he warned.
“Yet access to care is shrinking.”
The agency’s emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency’s biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice.
Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.
Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been “recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years.”
“That’s one of the reasons that we’ve calibrated our ask a little bit more toward what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have,” he said.
The WHO said in 2026 it was “hyper-prioritising the highest-impact services and scaling back lower?impact activities to maximize lives saved.”
Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, “cutting 53 million people off from health care.” Ihekweazu said.
“Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” he added, stressing that “people should never have to make these choices.”
“This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world.”
