A facility holding rows of mobile missile launchers inspected by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday was once an automobile factory, a security analyst said.
"The 'national defense enterprise' where Kim Jong Un viewed updated 240-millimeter multiple rocket launchers" is the former Pyeonghwa Motors factory," Jeffrey Lewis, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies' East Asia Nonproliferation Program, wrote Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.
Pyeonghwa Motors, founded in 1998 as a joint venture between North Korea and a firm affiliated with South Korea's Unification Church religious movement, is one of two car manufacturers in the reclusive country.
The Pyeonghwa assembly line in the western port city of Nampo, where then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was given a tour during his visit to the North in 2007, Lewis pointed out, giving the GPS coordinates for the site without sharing further details.
South Korean media outlet the Chosun Daily cited an anonymous military expert as saying the match was "highly likely" given the similarity of the two facilities.
North Korea-focused analyst group NK Pro corroborated Lewis's claim in a separate report: "This facility, once a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, was used to produce cars but has since been repurposed to enhance North Korea's military capabilities, particularly in producing multiple rocket launchers, a key element in the nation's arsenal."
The reported added the conversion is in line with the heavily sanctioned country's efforts to leverage "existing structures for its arms production" in order to make the most of what resources it has.
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, China, via emailed request for comment.
During his stop at the "defense industrial enterprise" on Monday, Kim, 40, "acquainted himself with the tactical missile weapon system to be newly equipped by the combined missile units of the Korean People's Army in charge of an important firing assignment" that day, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Kim reportedly emphasized the importance of pressing forward with the country's "munitions production plans" for the year to prepare its military for war.
Last week, Pyongyang said it had test-fired a "technically updated" version of a 240mm rocket launching system intended to phase out older equipment over the next two years.
It was the latest in a monthslong series of live-fire exercises that have come as the Kim regime labeled the South as its "principal enemy" and began dismantling organizations and symbols associated with eventual reunification on the Korean Peninsula.
The demonstrations have included launches of rockets alleged to be nuclear-capable, missiles said to be tipped with maneuverable hypersonic warheads, and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
