North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls for more shell production, KCNA says, Asia News
Kim visited lines for pressing metals and assembly on Friday, checked the progress of shell production in the first half of 2025, and suggested new tasks for improvement, KCNA said.
"If we are to increase the production of new, powerful shells of that meet the needs of... modern warfare, we need to expand and reinforce our production capacity, arrange the production process more rationally, and constantly increase the level of unmanned production," Kim said, according to KCNA.
In recent months, Kim's publicised moves have focused on strengthening the military and improving ties with Russia, while North Korean state media has mostly stayed quiet on criticisms against South Korea as the latter picked a new liberal president this month.
North Korea has supplied Russia with more than 20,000 containers of munitions, according to a report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group comprising 11 UN members, in May.
[[nid:719027]]
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
4 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, spokesperson says, World News
JERUSALEM/CAIRO - Gaza residents will be provided with tents and other shelter equipment starting from Sunday (Aug 17) ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave "to ensure their safety," the Israeli military said on Saturday. This comes days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Sunday said that before launching the offensive, the civilian population will be evacuated to what he described as "safe zones" from Gaza City, which he called Hamas' last stronghold. The shelter equipment will be transferred via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza by the United Nations and other international relief organisations after being inspected by defence ministry personnel, the military said. A spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed concern over Israel's plans to relocate people to southern Gaza saying it would only increase suffering. But the UN body welcomed Israel's recognition that shelter is a desperate need and that tents and other shelter equipment will be allowed again into Gaza. "The UN and its partners will seize the opportunity this opens," the spokesperson said. The UN warned on Thursday that thousands of families already enduring appalling humanitarian conditions could be pushed over the edge if the Gaza City plan moves ahead. [[nid:721244]] Palestinian and United Nations officials have said no place in the enclave is safe, including areas in southern Gaza where Israel has been ordering residents to move to. The military declined to comment when asked whether the shelter equipment was intended for Gaza City's population estimated at around one million people presently, and whether the site to which they will be relocated in southern Gaza would be the area of Rafah, which borders Egypt. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the plans for the new offensive were still being formulated. The Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, said that the military's announcement "as part of its brutal attack to occupy Gaza City, is a blatant and brazen mockery of international conventions." However, Israeli forces have already increased operations on the outskirts of Gaza City over the past week. Residents in the neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Shejaia have reported heavy Israeli aerial and tank fire. Residents there have also reported explosions throughout the day, resulting from Israeli tank shelling against homes in the eastern parts of the neighbourhood. The Israeli military on Friday said that it had begun a new operation in Zeitoun to locate explosives, destroy tunnels and kill militants in the area. The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli authorities, and 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are still alive. Israel's subsequent military assault against Hamas has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced most of Gaza's population and left much of the enclave in ruins. Protests calling for a hostage release and an end to the war were expected throughout Israel on Sunday, with many businesses, municipalities and universities saying they will support employees striking for the day. Negotiations to secure a US-backed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release ended in deadlock last month, and mediators Egypt and Qatar have been trying to revive them.
AsiaOne
a day ago
- AsiaOne
Melania Trump sends letter to Putin about abducted children, World News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials said on Friday (Aug 15). President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full scale invasion of Ukraine begun in 2022. Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine. [[nid:714237]]
CNA
a day ago
- CNA
UN says at least 1,760 killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May
JERUSALEM: The UN human rights office said Friday (Aug 15) that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August. "Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid; 994 in the vicinity of GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) sites and 766 along the routes of supply convoys. Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," the agency's office for the Palestinian territories said in a statement. That compares with a figure of 1,373 killed the office reported on Aug 1. The update came as Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli fire on Friday, including 12 who were waiting for humanitarian aid. The Israeli military said its troops were working to "dismantle Hamas military capabilities", adding its forces were taking precautions "to mitigate civilian harm". Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and the Israeli military. On Wednesday, the chief of staff of the Israeli military said plans had been approved for a new offensive in Gaza, aimed at defeating Hamas and freeing all the remaining hostages. The military intends to take control of Gaza City and nearby refugee camps, some of the most densely populated parts of the territory, which has been devastated by more than 22 months of war. In recent days, Gaza City residents have told AFP of more frequent air strikes targeting residential areas, while earlier this week Hamas denounced "aggressive" Israeli ground incursions in the area. The Israeli government's plans to expand the war have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition. UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. Hamas's October 2023 attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,827 Palestinians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
