Baghdad-INA
North Korea’s official news agency announced Thursday that leader Kim Jong-un himself drove a “new-type combat tank” during military exercises conducted by Pyongyang in parallel with the joint exercises conducted annually by Washington and Seoul.
The agency broadcast pictures in which the leader appeared wearing a black leather jacket and greeting the soldiers who wore spotted military uniforms and cheered with joy at meeting him, before he supervised the “training march” exercises.
These exercises were conducted with live ammunition and Kim supervised them from a field command position surrounded by senior generals, according to the same source.
The agency said that after Kim reviewed the tank crews, he “rode a new-type main battle tank, took the control lever and drove the tank himself.”
These exercises took place on the eve of the conclusion of Seoul and Washington’s joint annual exercises, “Freedom Shield.”
These maneuvers include, in particular, training to intercept missiles and confront air attacks, in annual exercises that Pyongyang, which possesses nuclear weapons, constantly denounces.
North Korea considers these maneuvers between Seoul and Washington as training for a possible invasion of its territory.
Pyongyang has previously responded to US-South Korean maneuvers by conducting new weapons tests.
According to the official news agency, Kim expressed “his great satisfaction with the fact that the main battle tank of the new type has successfully demonstrated its extremely excellent striking power.”
2024-03-15 23:30:14