North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected field training of troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country on Wednesday and ordered heightened readiness for war, the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.
The tour of the base, the location of which was not identified, came after the start of annual combined military drills by US and South Korean forces on Monday in the South. Twice the number of troops took part compared to last year.
Kim Jong Un told KCNA
Kim said the military must "dynamically usher in a new heyday of intensifying the war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation," KCNA reported.
"Our army should [...] steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness," KCNA quoted Kim as telling the troops.
KCNA did not mention whether Kim directly referred to the drills by the US and South Korean military. It said he inspected troops conducting actual maneuvers under conditions simulating actual war.