SEOUL, May 17 — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw air force drills and emphasized the need to ramp up military readiness, state media reported today.
SEOUL, May 17 — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw air force drills and emphasized the need to ramp up military readiness, state media reported today.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim observed anti-aircraft and air strike exercises conducted by the 1st Air Division on Thursday and urged “all military units” to achieve a “breakthrough in war preparations.”
Footage aired on North Korean state television showed a MiG-29 fighter jet launching what appeared to be a domestically-produced version of a Russian mid- to long-range air-to-air missile, noted Hong Min, a North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
Kim’s recent activities this month have included overseeing a missile launch, inspecting tank and munitions factories, visiting the Russian embassy in Pyongyang to reaffirm bilateral ties, and supervising tank firing and special operations training.
Meanwhile, North Korea criticized the US State Department for once again listing it among countries not fully cooperating with US counterterrorism efforts—a designation it has held since 1997, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
“The more the US provokes the DPRK with unnecessary and inefficient hostile acts, the deeper the irreconcilable hostility will grow between the DPRK and the US,” a spokesperson from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said, using the country's official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The DPRK will take appropriate and effective measures to respond to US provocations across all sectors,” the statement added. — Reuters
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