North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took the wheel of a nuclear-capable multiple rocket launcher during a ceremony in the capital Pyongyang and touted it as one of the world’s most powerful weapons, state media said.
North Korea’s state media regularly publishes eye-catching images of the leader and sends threatening messages to perceived enemies as a way to boost his reputation at home.
The authoritarian, one-party state is preparing for a key party congress this month, a time when North Korea’s propaganda machine and military displays often increase.
Wednesday’s display comes as North Korea continues to support Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, supplying Russia with missiles and thousands of troops.
Analysts say the experience North Korea’s military is gaining fighting Ukraine and possible technological know-how from Moscow could help it refine its weapons and tactics.
Relations between North Korea and Seoul, which is backed by tens of thousands of U.S. troops, also remain tense.
Latest footage from North Korea’s state media showed 50 rockets carrying 600mm rockets lined up in seven square rows. The four-axle transport vehicle and launch vehicle each carry five rocket tubes.
Images showed Kim, wearing a black jacket, landing on a mobile missile launcher near the main stage as thousands of spectators waved small North Korean flags.
The photo also showed him behind the wheel with a big smile on his face.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a report that he personally drove the launch truck to inspect the weapons, symbols of absolute power, lined up in the square at the venue of the glorious party congress.
Kim said the 600mm rocket, which is twice the size of most multiple rocket launch systems, has the same performance as short-range ballistic missiles.
And by using artificial intelligence in the teaching system, they will be in the class on their own.
“No other country has this kind of weapon system,” Kim said, according to state-run Korean Central News Agency.
It “completely changed the accepted role and concept of artillery in modern warfare.”
This is not the first time Kim has promoted a 600mm launcher. In late 2022, his administration unveiled 30 rocket launchers of the same size, each mounted on a tracked vehicle carrying six rockets.
According to a KCNA report at the time, the rocket system has a range of all of South Korea and can carry a tactical nuclear warhead.
However, international observers believe that North Korea only has about 50 nuclear warheads, and that it could manufacture another 30 to 40 from fissile material.
In addition to multiple rocket launch systems, North Korea possesses a variety of nuclear delivery vehicles, from intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the U.S. mainland to short-range weapons ostensibly targeting enemies on the Korean peninsula or the western Pacific.
North Korea has thousands of conventional artillery pieces that could inflict heavy damage on South Korea.
Two years ago, North Korea “carried out a large-scale firepower demonstration with long-range artillery units near the border, bringing the enemy’s capital within range,” KCNA said at the time.
A 2020 report by the Washington-based think tank RAND Corp. said North Korea’s artillery system, with some 6,000 large guns within range of South Korea’s major population centers, poses as great a risk to South Korea as Mr. Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.
“If launched against civilian targets, nearly 6,000 of these systems could kill more than 10,000 people in just one hour,” the Randland Institute report said.
The wheeled launcher on display Wednesday was in front of Pyongyang’s April 25 Cultural Center. Red banners and signs for the upcoming 9th Party Congress surrounded the military display.
North Korea often unveils new weapons before party meetings, important events and anniversaries.
Kim hinted on Wednesday that more military equipment could be unveiled in the coming days.
“Our party’s 9th National Congress will clarify the next stage of plans and goals for strengthening our self-reliant defense capabilities,” Kim said, calling on weapons developers and munitions manufacturers to redouble their efforts to implement the party’s strategic plan.
