North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un carried out a three-day inspection of major arms factories in the country, state media reported.
"It is the most important and urgent matter in making war preparations to modernize small arms to be carried by the KPA frontline units and other units...in keeping with the changed aspect of war," the Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying.
According to the news agency, during the visit to the factory manufacturing engines of strategic cruise missiles and armed unmanned aerial vehicle, the North Korean leader called for "steadily increasing the performance and reliability of the engine" and "rapidly expanding its production capacity."