The regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has publicly revealed for the first time the scale of production of KN-23 ballistic missiles. It is important to understand that they are a copy of the Russian 9M723 Iskander missile.
Points of attention
- KN-23s are already being used in the war against Ukraine.
- This is about a third of the ballistic missiles with which Russia attacked Ukrainian territory last year.
What is happening in North Korea?
The first photo confirmations were published by the state agency KCNA.
What is important to understand is that this happened after an inspection of missile factories by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korean propagandists have officially confirmed that dictator Kim Jong-un has visited key missile factories.
Against this background, he publicly demanded to increase the pace of production, as well as to create new military-industrial enterprises.
Official Pyongyang made it clear that these measures should be included in the development strategy of the Workers' Party of Korea for 2026.
The published photos show a workshop for assembling about 100 KN-23 missiles, indicating the serial nature of production. The missiles resemble the Russian Iskander in appearance and characteristics, but have noticeable design differences, in particular in the tail section.
It is also worth noting that KN-23s are already being used in the war against Ukraine.
Approximately 33% of the ballistic missiles with which Russia attacked Ukrainian territory in 2024 were North Korean-made.
