North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signaled that his country will continue developing missiles over the next five years, during visits to major munitions enterprises in the last quarter of 2025, state media KCNA reported.
According to KCNA, Kim said that “the country's missile and shell production sector is of paramount importance in bolstering war deterrent.”
The report said Kim ratified draft documents for the modernization of major munitions enterprises, which are to be submitted to a key party congress expected in early 2026. The congress will determine a five-year development plan for the regime.
The announcement comes a day after the North Korean leader personally oversaw the test-firing of a long-range surface-to-air missile at a launch site near the country’s east coast.
KCNA reported the test was conducted to evaluate North Korea’s strategic technology for developing a new type of high-altitude missile. The missile successfully destroyed aerial targets from a distance of 200 kilometers.
Kim was quoted as stating that the “all-out development of nuclear capabilities and modernization of the Navy are essential and inevitable,” adding that “the present world is by no means peaceful.”
North Korea has upped its rhetoric over the past two years and staged dozens of launches of missiles.
In October, North Korea test-fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles off its western coast, a week after it launched a hypersonic missile.
Kim has maintained a confrontational stance against the United States and South Korea since the conclusion of President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Trump has expressed interest in meeting Kim, something he did three times during his first presidency from 2017 to 2021. Despite the historic meetings, their diplomacy yielded no tangible results.
Kim recently stated that he has “good memories” of Trump, but also declared that his nation will "never lay down our nuclear weapons".