North Korea Reveals Scale of Iskander Missiles Copies Production

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un inspected missile factories, calling for increased production and the creation of new enterprises.

According to the state news agency KCNA, these plans will be part of the party’s strategy for 2026 and emphasize Pyongyang’s course to develop its military-industrial base.

North Korean media also published a photo of a workshop where about a hundred KN-23 missiles are being assembled.

These missiles are a copy of the Russian 9M723 ballistic missile of the Iskander system, but have a number of technical and visual differences. Among the obvious ones are the design features of the tail section.

About one-third of the ballistic missiles that Russia used to attack Ukraine in 2024 were North Korean-made KN-23s.

On the same day, Kim Jong Un approved a draft document on the modernization of key military-industrial enterprises.

The KCNA reported that the document will be submitted to the IX Party Congress and Plenum of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in early 2026, where a new five-year development strategy will be determined.