North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly elevated the country’s super-large multiple rocket launcher force to a strategic tier, calling for a fundamental transformation of North Korea’s artillery capabilities. 

According to state media KCNA, Kim on December 28, 2025 inspected a major munitions factory producing super-large caliber rocket systems and praised them as a “super-powerful weapon” capable of delivering sudden, precise, and devastating strikes.

Kim described the system as a potential “strategic attack means” that could “annihilate the enemy,” language that places the weapon beyond traditional battlefield artillery. He urged what he called a “revolution in upgrading the artillery weapon system,” emphasizing the need for expanded mass production to ensure the weapon becomes the backbone of North Korea’s modernized long-range artillery forces.

The system inspected is widely identified by external analysts as the KN-25, a 600mm caliber weapon first tested in 2019. 

Although North Korea officially categorizes it as a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), Western militaries frequently classify it as a short-range ballistic missile due to its range and flight profile.

The KN-25 is assessed to have a strike range of approximately 380–400 kilometers, allowing coverage of targets across much of South Korea, including the Seoul metropolitan area and potential U.S. military facilities. 

It is believed to use precision guidance based on inertial navigation, possibly supplemented by satellite inputs, with reported accuracy measured in tens of meters. The launcher is typically mounted on tracked or wheeled transporter-erector-launchers carrying four to six tubes, enhancing survivability through rapid relocation.

While the system is conventionally armed, North Korea has previously claimed the KN-25 could carry tactical nuclear warheads, further blurring the distinction between artillery and missile forces.

Images released by state media showed Kim touring the production facility with rows of launcher vehicles visible, underscoring the industrial scale of the program. Kim’s focus on serial production suggests the KN-25 is moving from a niche capability toward a mass-deployed system integrated into North Korea’s standing force structure.

By emphasizing both precision and volume, Pyongyang appears to be pursuing a doctrine that combines saturation fire with accurate, long-range strikes. This approach complicates missile defense planning by presenting a large number of high-speed, quasi-ballistic threats that sit below the traditional strategic missile threshold but exceed conventional artillery norms.

The factory inspection forms part of a broader sequence of military-related activities by Kim, including visits to nuclear submarine construction sites and oversight of missile testing programs. These appearances come ahead of a key Workers’ Party of Korea congress expected in early 2026, where defense modernization is likely to feature prominently.

Taken together, the messaging highlights North Korea’s intent to anchor its deterrence posture not only in intercontinental systems but also in highly mobile, precision-capable artillery forces designed for rapid escalation in a regional conflict.