SEOUL: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un oversaw paratroop exercise aimed at demonstrating his soldiers’ ability to occupy an “enemy region at a stroke”, official media reported on Saturday, days following the recent annual US-South Korean military drill.
North Korea has shown particular sensitivity towards the joint air force drills carried out by the United States and South Korea, with analysts noting that the North Korea’s air force is viewed to be the weakest link in its forces.
South Korea official news agency reported that North Korea’s latest training overseen by Kim Jong Un was “aimed at reviewing the paratroopers’ readiness to be mobilized for any operational plan in surprise wartime conditions” and judging their abilities.
North Korea’s Leader Oversees Paratroop Exercise
The soldiers demonstrated their combat capability and skills to occupy the enemy area at a stroke once an order is given, the news agency maintained. Kim stressed the significance of “applying scientific training approaches for attaining maximum fighting capability on actual battlegrounds as needed by modern warfare, it said.
Footages released by North Korea’s official newspaper showed Kim’s daughter, Ju Ae, using binoculars to observe the exercise.
The development comes just days following North Korea announced that Kim drove a ” battle tank” that the North Korea claimed was the most powerful across the world.
South Korea and the USA this week wrapped up their annual military exercises- involving air assault drills, and missile interception among others — with double the number of forces participating compared to last year.
North Korea last week warned that Seoul and Washington would pay a “dear price” over the recent drills, and later said that Kim Jong Un had directed a large-scale artillery exercise involving a unit that it said was able of hitting Seoul.
Earlier this week, South Korea’s Minister for Defense Shin Won-sik visited the headquarters of the army’s Special Warfare Command and said if Kim J wages war, “you should become the world’s strongest special warfare unit that rapidly removes the enemy’s leadership.”
