North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw tactical drill demonstrations and called for “full preparations for war,” state-run media reported Wednesday. Photo by KCNA/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, May 14 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised combined tactical drills of special operations forces and stressed “full preparations for war,” state media reported Wednesday.
Kim watched tactical drill demonstrations and a joint fire strike demonstration by tank units at an undisclosed location on Tuesday, Korean Central News Agency reported.
“Making full preparations for war is the most crucial task,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
The North’s combat training has evolved “in keeping with the developing patterns and changing trend of modern warfare, strengthening the integral system of organizing, judging and reviewing training, and putting main stress on the actual war drills,” he said.
North Korean troops have gained real-world combat experience on the battlefield in Russia, where they have been sent to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
Pyongyang has deployed around 15,000 troops to Russia, Seoul’s spy agency said recently. Some 600 of the soldiers have been killed and another 4,100 injured, the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a briefing on April 30.
North Korea acknowledged sending the troops for the first time last month, claiming they helped recapture lost territory in Kursk Province from Ukrainian forces.
“Our involvement in the war was justifiable,” Kim said during a visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang on Friday in honor of Moscow’s Victory Day holiday.
“If [Ukraine] had not committed a heinous crime of encroaching upon the Russian territory, the invaders could have avoided the fate of becoming dead souls, hit by our swords and spears,” he said, according to a KCNA report.
In addition to troops, Seoul and Washington accuse North Korea of supplying artillery and missiles to Russia. A launch of short-range ballistic missiles and long-range artillery last week may have been a test of weapons systems meant for export to Russia, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
In exchange, North Korea is believed to be receiving much-needed financial support and advanced military technology for its own weapons programs.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon warned that North Korea may have up to 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads by 2035.
“North Korea has successfully tested ballistic missiles with sufficient range to reach the entire Homeland,” the Defense Intelligence Agency said in a report on current and future missile threats to the United States.
The agency defined an ICBM as “a ground-based missile with a range exceeding 5,500 km (3,417 miles) that flies on a ballistic trajectory and is typically armed with a nuclear warhead or warheads.”
Pyongyang is projected to increase its arsenal to 50 ICBMs from its current inventory of 10 or fewer, the DIA report said. China, Russia and Iran were also included in the threat assessment.