North Korea said Friday it will deploy new long-range artillery systems capable of striking South Korea's capital region before the end of this year, while also announcing its first naval destroyer will be commissioned in coming weeks.
Kim Jong Un visited a munitions factory Wednesday to inspect production of 155-mm self-propelled gun-howitzers intended for deployment at an artillery unit along the southern border, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported. Kim said the striking range of the large-caliber rifled gun exceeds 60 kilometers, or about 37 miles. Seoul, with a population of 10 million people, sits approximately 40 to 50 kilometers from the border.
Kim said that "such a rapid extension of striking range and remarkable improvement of striking capability will provide a great change and advantage in the land operations of our army," according to KCNA. He also said various missile systems and multiple rocket launcher systems are scheduled for border deployment.
On Thursday, Kim rode on the destroyer Choe Hyon to review its maneuverability off North Korea's west coast. He ordered authorities to hand over the ship to the navy by mid-June, according to KCNA. The Choe Hyon is North Korea's largest and most advanced warship. A second destroyer of the same class was damaged during a botched launching ceremony after it was unveiled, and Kim has called for building two more.
Kim's teenage daughter accompanied him on the destroyer, appearing in official photographs standing behind her father as he addressed navy sailors and later eating a meal with the crew. South Korea's spy service said last month she could be considered Kim's heir.
The military announcements came days after South Korea said North Korea's newly revised constitution had dropped all references to Korean unification. The constitutional change formalized Kim's declared intent to establish a two-state system on the peninsula and redefined North Korean territory as only the northern half. Kim has described South Korea as his country's permanent principal enemy.
North Korea's artillery systems receive less international attention than its ballistic missiles, which are subject to United Nations Security Council resolutions banning their launch. But the country already maintains a large concentration of artillery near the border, and the range extension announced Friday would expand the portion of the Seoul metropolitan area within reach of those guns.
