Seoul, March 8 (NationPress) The supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has called for enhancing the navy’s combat capabilities during his inspection of the nation’s primary shipyards, as reported by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday.

The fundamental directive to significantly strengthen the navy’s combat power is "to concurrently advance the modernization of both surface and underwater vessels while further enhancing their operational effectiveness," stated Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK.

He emphasized the necessity to decisively improve the warship construction capabilities based on existing experiences and technologies and to "accelerate the enhancement of overall technical processes," with the aim of producing a substantial number of modern ships equipped for various missions needed by the naval forces.

Kim was also informed about the construction of a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine, as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The DPRK will "never remain a passive observer to the naval and underwater military maneuvers of its adversaries," he asserted, adding that the DPRK will "safeguard its maritime sovereignty and ensure security on the Korean Peninsula and in the region through significant advancements and transformations in its naval force and by maintaining superiority in the continuously evolving military landscape."

The KCNA report did not specify the date of Kim's shipyard visit.

Last week, the North Korean military conducted a launching drill of strategic cruise missiles off its western coastline.

The Korean People’s Army (KPA) launched two strategic cruise missiles, which traveled 1587 km before successfully hitting their targets, according to KCNA.

The goal of this launching drill was to signal the "enemies" regarding the KPA’s counterattack capabilities in any scenario and to showcase the readiness of its diverse nuclear operational assets, thereby demonstrating the reliability of its national nuclear deterrent and enhancing the proficiency of the strategic cruise missile units in executing sudden firing missions," the report stated.

Kim Jong Un supervised the launching exercise, asserting that "it is a responsible demonstration of the DPRK's war deterrence to continuously test the reliability and functionality of its nuclear deterrence components and to exhibit their strength."

"It is the enduring mission and duty of the DPRK’s nuclear forces to perpetually defend the national sovereignty and security with a trustworthy nuclear shield by ensuring thorough readiness of the nuclear forces and full preparedness for their deployment," Kim added.