North Koreans told to protect portraits of Kim Jong Un as storm looms

His field inspection was the latest in a string of visits to arms factories, where he ordered mass production of weapons, and came days before South Korea and the U.S. are to begin annual military drills, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for war.

Kim noted an "important goal to dramatically increase" missile production capacity to meet the needs of the expanded and strengthened frontline military units, KCNA said.