North Korean leader inspects new missile factory ahead of visit to China

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday leader Kim Jong Un inspected a new weapons factory that’s key to his plan to accelerate mass production of missiles in a weekend visit before he departs for a major military parade in China.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency did not disclose the location of the factory Kim visited Sunday, but it may be in Jagang province, a hub of the country’s munitions industry that borders China.

Both China and North Korea confirmed last week that Kim will make his first visit to China in six years to attend a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, which marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s resistance against Japanese wartime aggression.

The 26 foreign leaders invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping also include Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who has received major wartime support from Kim in his invasion of Ukraine, making the Beijing event a show of three-way alignment against U.S. efforts to strengthen security cooperation with South Korea and Japan.

South Korean media speculated Kim could depart for China by train sometime Monday, pointing to heightened security measures at the Chinese border town of Dandong, where rail traffic was reportedly halted and hotels stopped receiving foreign guests.

KCNA said the factory had assembly lines to speed missile production and reported that Kim praised scientists and workers and ratified plans for improvement.

South Korean officials say Kim has pushed to accelerate munitions production as he supplies Russia with large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles. Kim has also sent thousands of troops since last fall to fight alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, as he prioritizes Moscow as part of a foreign policy aimed at expanding ties with nations confronting the United States.

Since aligning with Russia, North Korea has become more vocal in international affairs beyond the Korean Peninsula, issuing diplomatic statements on conflicts in the Middle East and in the Taiwan Strait, while portraying itself as a part of a united front against Washington. Some experts say Kim’s presence at the multilateral event in Beijing is part of efforts to develop partnerships with other nations close to China and Russia.

China remains North Korea’s largest trade partner and economic lifeline, and Kim’s attendance at the Beijing military parade is also seen as an attempt to showcase ties with a major ally and boost leverage ahead of a possible resumption of negotiations with Washington.

President Donald Trump and new liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed their hopes to restart talks with North Korea, but the North has publicly dismissed their outreach. On Monday, South Korea said it has suspended a military-run radio broadcast into North Korea as part of steps to ease tensions. Lee’s government has already halted several other radio broadcasts containing South Korean and world news and removed front-line loudspeakers that used to blare K-pop songs, foreign news and propaganda messages across the border.

North Korea has been shunning talks with the U.S. and South Korea since Kim’s earlier round of diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019 after Trump rejected Kim’s demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for partial steps toward denuclearization.

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Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this report.