ANKARA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected shell manufacturing at several munitions factories, calling for "more" shell production to contribute to the expansion of the combat power of the country's armed forces, state media reported on Wednesday.

Kim inspected shell production and the state of the machine-building industry and said that a rapid increase of shell production has helped the North Korean military's combat power, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

During his field guidance at the munition enterprises under the Second Economy Commission, Kim expressed "great satisfaction," saying the facilities' modernization had reached a high level and that the shell production capacity had grown rapidly.

The respective munitions enterprises' shell output has increased four times the average annual level and nearly twice the peak-year level.

Kim expressed hope that "they (factories) would produce more shells to contribute to the expansion of the combat power of our armed forces."

Kim also inspected a machine factory, where he discussed its modernization goal and the long-term development of the country's machine-building industry.

He urged the factory to focus on developing and producing "more intelligent, high-speed, precision and multifunctional machine-building equipment" to enhance the production and technical power of the munitions industry, as well as other sectors of the national economy.

*Writing by Aamir Latif