Gun-toting Kim Jong-un orders North Korea to prepare for war amid US-South Korea drills

North Korean leader inspects major operational training base of Korean People’s Army

Kim Jong-un has ordered North Korea to prepare for war as he visited a key military training facility in the western region of the country on Wednesday, state media reported.

The North Korean leader was seen dressed in a black leather jacket and handling a gun as he oversaw training exercises of military units and urged the army to intensify “actual war drills”, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report said.

The visit comes during the ongoing annual joint Freedom Shield military exercises by the United States and South Korea forces that began on 4 March. The US and its regional allies say they have no choice but to conduct such drills given the aggressive rhetoric from Pyongyang and Mr Kim’s determination to pursue a UN-sanctioned nuclear weapons programme.

Accompanied by high-ranking military officials, Mr Kim reportedly emphasised the importance of using the training facilities to enhance the combat readiness and capabilities of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

KCNA stated that Mr Kim praised the practical construction of training facilities for high-intensity drills in a realistic war environment, in line with military policies from the Party Central Committee. He reportedly also stressed the need for intensified training and practical drills to prepare for victory in any potential conflict, ensuring the army remains ready in the face of evolving modern warfare challenges.

“Our army should ... steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness,” the report quoted Mr Kim as telling the troops.

It also published photos of the exercises, showing soldiers and helicopters practising to capture a position resembling those found on the South Korean side of the border.

South Korea and the US kicked off their large military exercise on Monday to display joint readiness against increasing threats of a nuclear attack from North Korea as tensions escalated between the nations sharing hostile ties in the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has labelled the drills as a plot to invade its territory and threatened to take unspecified “responsible” military actions in retaliation.

In a statement carried by state media, the North’s Defense Ministry said it “strongly denounces the reckless military drills of the US and (South Korea) for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state and attempt for invading it”.

Last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea announced that this year’s military exercises with the United States aim to counter North Korean nuclear threats and will include live-firing, bombing, air assault, and missile interception drills.

The US has repeatedly confirmed they have no intention of attacking North Korea.

North Korea’s latest response to the South and the US’s joint military exercises in the Peninsula is a repeat of its aggressive stance towards regional defensive measures taken by South Korea which has seen Pyongyang launch over a hundred missile tests in two years.

The tests included the firing of an inter-continental ballistic missile in July last year, where North Korea claimed the nuclear-capable weapon can reach a range of anywhere in the US and in its neighbouring nations of South Korea and Japan.

Additional reporting with agencies