Kim Jong Un Dusts Off Leather Jacket for Visit to Arms Factory, Stresses ‘Importance of the Production of Major Weapons’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touted the need for "major weapons" during a visit to an arms factory as the United States and Western nations condemned his despotic regime's sale of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. 

Kim, wearing a leather bomber jacket, was seen on state-run TV inspecting mobile short-range launch vehicles during the visit in which he emphasized the "strategic importance of the production of major weapons," the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. 

The visit comes as the United States signed a statement along with ministers from South Korea, Japan, the UK and 40 other countries, deploring North Korea's transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia. 

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms (North Korea's) export and Russia's procurement of (North Korea's) ballistic missiles, as well as Russia's use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024," the statement said. 

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Moscow fired missiles supplied by Kim's regime on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 6. 

Last week, the White House released intelligence showing that North Korea was increasing its support for Russia in direct violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

It also said Russia launched North Korean-supplied missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. 

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke Tuesday to his South Korean counterpart, Chang Hojin, about the increasing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. 

"The two officials condemned in the strongest possible terms the DPRK’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia and Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

"They noted that the transfer and use of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, undermines the global non-proliferation regime, and has significant security implications for Europe, the Korean Peninsula, and the Indo-Pacific region," the statement continued.

The US and its allies are expected to raise the issue at the UN Security Council on Wednesday.