SEOUL, South Korea: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a large-scale artillery drill, state media reported Friday, as North Korea fumes over joint US-South Korean military exercises that began this week.
Thursday’s drills were aimed at increasing combat readiness and actual combat capabilities, the Korean state news agency reported, amid rising tensions between North Korea and Seoul.
KCNA reported that the live-fire training exercise, which involved border troops that “that put the enemy’s capital in their striking range,” came a day after Kim visited a base in the west of the country.
North Korea warned its allies on Tuesday that South Korea and the United States would pay a “heavy price” for the massive Freedom Shield military exercise that began on Monday, urging the allies to cease “frantic war drills”.
This year, North Korea has declared South Korea its “principal enemy”. The U.S. and South Korean governments have announced that they have begun annual spring military drills with double the size of 2023 to bolster readiness to respond to North Korea’s growing nuclear threats.
North Korea has long viewed joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea as exercises for aggression.
Nuclear-armed North Korea has conducted weapons tests in the past as a countermeasure to such joint exercises.
The South Korean government announced on Tuesday that the country’s military is fully prepared in case of any provocation by North Korea.
While inspecting the training on Thursday, Kim said he was very satisfied that the troops were fully prepared for continuous mobilization in battle, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
He visited a major operational training base in the west of the country on Wednesday, and later photos showed him talking to camouflaged troops and overseeing target practice.
