SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected an “important” tank factory and touted “great progress in the core technology of Korean-style tanks,” state media KCNA said on Sunday.
Kim’s visit comes amid a broader push to modernize North Korea’s conventional armed forces in addition to its nuclear and missile arsenals.
The North Korean leader recently attended the launch of a new naval destroyer and tests of new drones, among other weapons.
The Academy of Defense Sciences and the workers and technicians of the factory have made remarkable progress and success in developing tanks and armored weapons and improving their combat performance, said the KCNA.
The traveling and different mobile characteristics of tanks were improved through the integrated power transmission device.
The new-type active protection complex, passive protection means and the electronic warfare complex were updated in a more innovative way.
All these successes mean great progress in the core technology of DPRK tanks, Kim was quoted as saying.
South Korean and US officials have said they suspect the North is receiving some technical and military help from Russia in return for sending ammunition, missiles, and troops for the war in Ukraine, but no details have been confirmed.