North Korea appears to have completed a project to modernize a major tank and missile launcher factory, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, indicating the military could soon boost production of these weapons systems after years of delays.

State TV recently showed North Korea’s new main battle tank (MBT) being tested near the Kusong tank plant, offering the strongest evidence yet that this is the tank’s production base and that construction at the facility was related to its development. 

Besides the new MBT, Pyongyang has also tested tracked (as opposed to wheeled) transporter erector launchers (TELs) for short-range nuclear missiles near the Kusong factory, while showing off at least six different tracked missile system TELs in tests and military parades in recent years.

The factory is officially called the “machine plant managed by Ho Chol Yong (허철용동무가 사업하는 기계공장)” and is located in the northwest of the country in North Phyongan Province. Kim Jong Un’s last public visit was in 2016.

According to Planet Labs satellite imagery, major renovations took place across the entire Kusong tank plant complex between Oct. 2022 and June 2023, including the construction of a giant new manufacturing hall double the size of the existing one. The project appeared to start in earnest in Aug. 2020 before stalling until last year. 

The renovation and new construction involved over a dozen production-related buildings covering an area of 9.3 hectares (23 acres).

Experts strongly suspected that North Korea would manufacture the new MBTs at the factory due to its connection to other tracked weapons systems, and NK Pro has geolocated new footage of MBT testing to the proving grounds in Kusong located just to the south of the factory, further connecting the two. 

The footage shows one of the new MBTs in green camo conducting high-speed driving tests as well as testing a new hard-kill active protection system (APS) to destroy an incoming rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), North Korea military expert and co-founder of the Oryx military blog Joost Oliemans wrote for NK Pro. 

It also includes scenes of an MBT with desert camo and the serial number 123 — seen at the Feb. 2023 military parade — firing its 125mm main gun while driving. 

In an NK Pro article on the MBT’s first appearance at the Oct. 2020 military parade, Oliemans wrote that the APS involves “phased array radars mounted around the turret [to] detect incoming projectiles and launch interceptors from canisters fitted in small compartments.” These interceptors “detonate near the incoming projectile, hopefully disabling it.” 

Writing on North Korea’s parade last month, Oliemans said “many analysts considered [the new APS feature] unlikely to be genuine, and if it functions well, that is a laudable achievement for North Korean engineers.”

The footage of the MBT testing aired during Korean Central Television (KCTV) coverage of a weapons expo in Pyongyang late last month, where DPRK leader Kim Jong Un showed visiting Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu his latest weapons. Kim and Shoigu did not appear to inspect one of the MBTs on display at the event in any available footage or images.

Kim Jong Un and the Kusong tank plant manager were previously seen together watching a KN-23 (Hwasong-11A) short-range ballistic missile test in May 2019 and a Pukguksong-2 missile test in Feb. 2017. Both missiles were fired from tracked TELs near the Kusong tank proving grounds. The Pukguksong-2 was also prepared for launch inside a warehouse at the factory itself. 

One indication that the new MBT has not yet been mass manufactured or deployed is that KCTV recently started airing new regular military training footage in music videos that contained only older systems and not the newer model.

On the other hand, North Korean state media has suggested the military already started mass-producing the six-tube tracked TEL for the 600mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) known as the KN-25. Thirty of the TELs appeared in front of Kim Jong Un’s Pyongyang office building for a ceremony on Dec. 31 last year. Kim Jong Un also encouraged mass production of these rockets during a reported inspection last week of a factory where they are manufactured.

However, this vehicle has not been directly linked to the Kusong tank plant.

The DPRK showed off five different tracked TEL systems during its Oct. 2020 military parade, but only one in its Jan. 2021 parade, two in its Oct. 2021 weapons expo and two in its April 2022 parade. None appeared at the Feb. and July 2023 parades.

Edited by Bryan Betts

Correction on Nov. 21, 2023: The name of the Kusong tank plant manager identified in a photo caption was changed from Ho Chol Yong – the official name of the manager according to state media – to reflect his actual name Ri Yong Son, which was specified during a KCTV documentary named Bosom of Brilliant Life 27 (빛나는 삶의 품 27).