Kim Jong Un visits missile launcher factory, warns of 'military showdown'

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured a factory producing mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported Friday, while ordering increased preparations for a "military showdown with the enemy."

Kim visited the transporter erector launcher, or TEL, facility with his young daughter Ju-ae as well as senior officials including his sister Kim Yo Jong, propaganda chief Ri Il Hwan and close aide Jo Yong Won.

He called the strategic missile TELs "the top priority for bolstering up the national defense capabilities," according to state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim urged production to be "pushed forward ... nonstop, given the prevailing grave situation that requires the country to be more firmly prepared for a military showdown with the enemy."

Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula, with the North doubling down on its U.N.-banned nuclear and missile programs while allies Seoul and Washington boost military cooperation.

Photos carried by KCNA showed TELs mounted with what appear to be Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 ICBMs, both believed capable of reaching anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

The Hwasong-18, first tested in April and fired again last month, is the North's first solid-fuel ICBM. Analysts say solid-fuel rockets are more mobile and quicker to launch than liquid-fuel types, making them harder for missile defense systems to counter.

The report of Kim's factory visit comes shortly after the White House said that Russia is using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in its attacks on Ukraine.

"We expect Russia and North Korea to learn from these launches, and we anticipate that Russia will use additional North Korean missiles to target Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and to kill innocent Ukrainian civilians," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.

Washington and Seoul claim that the North is receiving advanced technology for its space and missile programs in exchange for supplying weapons to Russia.

In November, North Korea launched what it said was its first military spy satellite. Leader Kim Jong Un said over the weekend that the North would launch three more satellites this year as well as continue to build up its nuclear arsenal in preparation for a confrontation with Seoul.

The KCNA report noted that Kim's "respected daughter" Ju-ae accompanied him on the TEL factory visit. She is believed to be 10 years old and has been seen at several public events alongside her father since first appearing in November 2022 at the launch of a Hwasong-17 ICBM.

Speculation has swirled that Ju-ae is being positioned to one day replace her father at the top of the dynastic regime that has ruled North Korea since its founding. On Thursday, South Korea's National Intelligence Service called Ju-ae Kim's "most likely successor," marking the first time the spy agency has officially voiced that assessment.