TodayKorea — Reporter Jin Min-seok | North Korea said it will field a new long-range self-propelled artillery system to front-line units this year that could reach Seoul. Chairman Kim Jong Un told state media the system, which he said has a range beyond 60 km (about 37 miles), will bring a “major change and advantage” to ground operations.
On May 8, the Korean Central News Agency reported Kim visited key defense factories on May 6 and inspected production of enough new self-propelled, flat-trajectory guns to equip three battalions slated for long-range artillery units along the southern border this year.
Kim was briefed on mobility trials, terrain-overcoming tests, submerged-fording evaluations and firing trials with improved shells. He praised the new-generation artillery as “well made,” saying it combines high mobility with significant striking power.
He added that the large-caliber rifled guns due to replace front-line systems now have ranges exceeding 60 km (about 37 miles). “The rapid expansion of strike range and the marked improvement in target-destructive capability will bring major changes and advantages to our ground operations,” he said.
The “long-range artillery units along the southern border” appears to refer to front-line artillery formations near the Military Demarcation Line. A 60 km range from positions near the DMZ would put large parts of Seoul within reach.
Kim also said the introduction of new weapons requires a redefinition of operational concepts. He argued that artillery systems equipped with automatic firing capabilities will “completely renew our artillery force structure.”
Later the same day he toured the Armored Weapons Research Institute and defense industry facilities to inspect new main battle tanks and launcher vehicles, stressing that upgrading key defense industry enterprises to cutting-edge standards in the shortest possible time is an urgent priority.
He said plans and budgets for the related defense-industry modernization would be reviewed and approved at the 2nd plenary meeting of the 9th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party.
North Korea is also pushing ahead with naval modernization. KCNA reported Kim boarded the destroyer Choe Hyun-ho — which was due to be commissioned on May 7 — accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae, observed a comprehensive mobility evaluation test, and ordered the vessel handed over to the navy by mid-June.
Analysts say Kim’s inspection of defense industry facilities comes amid moves to enshrine nuclear command authority for the state chairman in the constitution and to formalize a “two-state” posture.
While pursuing conventional long-range artillery and naval upgrades, North Korea is simultaneously taking steps to cement its status as a nuclear-armed state.
On May 7, North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song said in a KCNA statement that “the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) under any circumstances” and that the country is “faithful in fulfilling obligations under its constitution, which cements its legal status as a nuclear-armed state.”
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