Kim Jong Un Checks Combat Training, Boosts War Preparation

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while in Russia/DOK Office of the President of the Russian Federation via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees the exercises carried out by the air force by emphasizing the need for increased war preparation.

Kim, who checks anti-aircraft combat exercises and airstrikes by North Korea's 1st Air Division on Thursday, called on "all units across the military" to realize "boves in preparation for war", KCNA reported as reported by Reuters, Saturday, May 17.

Training footage on North Korean state TV shows MiG-29 jets launching missiles, which appears to be North Korea's version of Russia's medium to long-range air-to-air missiles, said Hong Min, North Korea's analyst at the Korean Institute for National Unity.

Kim has overseen missile tests, examined tank and ammunition factories, made rare visits to the Russian embassy in Pyongyang to reaffirm the country's alliance with Russia, and oversee tank firing exercises and training of special operations units.

North Korea also criticized the US State Department for placing it on the list of countries that are not fully cooperating with US counterterrorism efforts.

Pyongyang has been placed on the list every year since 1997, South Korea's Yonhap News agency said.

"The more the US provokes the DPRK with unnecessary and inefficient evil actions, the further it will increase the irreciable hostility between the DPRK and the US," a spokesman for North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, using the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The DPRK will take effective and appropriate action to address the provocation of US hostilities in all fields," he continued.