(Seoul) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un drove a “new type of battle tank” during military exercises in North Korea, as the United States and South Korea conduct joint maneuvers, a the official KCNA agency reported on Thursday.
Dressed in a black leather jacket, Kim Jong-un supervised military exercises and came to greet North Korean soldiers in camouflage to ovations, according to images broadcast by KCNA.
After reviewing the tank crews, the leader “mounted on a new type of battle tank, grabbed the control lever and drove the tank himself,” the state agency described.
PHOTO AGENCY KCNA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Kim Jong-un piloting the tank
Kim Jong-un said he was very satisfied with the “excellent striking power” of this tank. He also underlined “the importance of the role and responsibility of tankers in modern warfare”, and insisted on the “need to organize extensive exercises simulating a real war”, according to the same source.
These North Korean exercises took place on the last day of the annual spring military maneuvers by Washington and Seoul, which doubled the number of soldiers participating this year compared to 2023, in order to better prepare to respond to growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang, they said.
North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, has long condemned these exercises, which it considers to be rehearsals for an invasion of its territory. Pyongyang has previously conducted weapons tests in response to joint exercises of this nature.
Since the start of the year, Pyongyang has designated South Korea as its “main enemy”, closed agencies dedicated to reunification and inter-Korean dialogue and threatened war for any violation of its territory “would not be -that 0.001 millimeter”.