SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
North Korea pledges 'expanded, intensified' military drills
Seoul, Feb 7 (AFP) Feb 07, 2023
North Korea's top army officials have said they will expand and intensify military drills to ensure their readiness for war, state media reported Tuesday, ahead of a massive parade.

The pledge came at a Monday meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un and follows last week's staging of joint air drills by South Korea and the United States.

The agenda was topped by "the issue of constantly expanding and intensifying the operation and combat drills of the (Korean People's Army) ... strictly perfecting the preparedness for war", the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The meeting of North Korea's central military commission comes as commercial satellite imagery suggests "extensive parade preparations" are underway in Pyongyang ahead of key state holidays this month.

North Korea celebrates the founding anniversary of its armed forces on Wednesday and the "Day of the Shining Star" on February 16. The latter is the birthday of Kim Jong Il, son of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and father of Kim Jong Un.

Seoul and Washington have moved to bolster joint military drills following a year of sanctions-busting weapons tests, infuriating Pyongyang, which sees them as rehearsals for invasion.

Last week, the security allies staged joint air drills featuring strategic bombers and stealth fighters, prompting Pyongyang to warn such exercises could "ignite an all-out showdown".

The joint exercises, their first this year, came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed to boost security cooperation to counter an increasingly belligerent nuclear-armed North.

North Korea's foreign minister has said the move to ramp up joint drills crossed "an extreme red line".

Experts say Monday's meeting of North Korea's top brass aimed to highlight the country's readiness to face down upcoming joint military drills between South Korea and the United States -- and also stress it was prepared for an actual war.

"North Korea is hinting about the possibility of military action in the future in the name of operational and combat training and war preparedness," said Hong Min, researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Kim recently called for an "exponential" increase in Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal, including mass-producing tactical nuclear weapons and developing new missiles for nuclear counterstrikes.

Kim has also said his country must "overwhelmingly beef up military muscle" in 2023 in response to what Pyongyang calls US and South Korean hostility.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Macron says Europe must become 'space power' again
NASA raises chance for asteroid to hit moon
Tidal forces from the Sun may have shaped Mercury's tectonic features

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Tesla expected to launch long-discussed robotaxi service
Israeli army says struck ' inactive nuclear reactor' in Iran's Arak
New Zealand targets leadership in superconducting space tech with new research alliance

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Trump says US strikes 'obliterated' Iran nuclear sites
Israelis emerge from shelters to devastation after Iran attacks
Japan spots Chinese ships near disputed isles for record 216 straight days

24/7 News Coverage
NASA scientists find ties between Earth's oxygen and magnetic field
How did life survive 'Snowball Earth'? In ponds, study suggests
Arctic warming spurs growth of carbon-soaking peatlands



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.