FIRE AND FURY
North Korea shows off firepower with vast missile & artillery barrage under Kim Jong-un’s gaze as country preps for WAR
Meanwhile, Seoul has doubled the number of troops during war drills
KIM Jong-un flexes his muscles as North Korean army tested the large-scale artillery under his watch with the country preparing for war.
The Korean People's Army conducted the live-fire artillery drill near the border with units that are capable of striking the South Korean capital.
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Kim urged his soldiers to gear up for "actual war" and increase combat readiness, reported Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea showed off large-calibre weapons within the firing range of "the enemy's capital" on Thursday, referring to Seoul.
Seoul's military confirmed that the North test-fired rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery shells toward the Yellow Sea between 11am and 5pm local time.
They also added that North Korea's "provocations" were being closely monitored while Seoul "maintains a firm defence posture"
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement: "If North Korea commits a provocation, we will punish overwhelmingly and firmly in accordance with the principle of 'immediately, strongly, and until the end'."
Kim's army put on a show of firepower after Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual spring military exercises on Monday - with twice the number of troops compared to last year.
Kim called Seoul's joint drills a "rehearsal for invasion" and has accelerated his weapons testing.
Tensions between South and North Korea
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have recently risen to their highest point in years - with Kim accelerating his weapons testing and South strengthening their joint war drills with the US.
- Hopes for reunification shut
In January, Kim Jong-un has scrapped any effort for reunification with Seoul.
The dictator shut down several government bodies tasked with promoting reconciliation with South Korea.
He was quoted saying: "We don’t want war but we have no intention of avoiding it."
Kim also appeared to have blown up a major monument in North Korea's capital that symbolised hope for unity.
The move is thought to have been a deliberate choice by the dictator, signalling his refusal to unite with his country's "enemy".
- Kim ramps up weapon testing
From the start of 2024, North Korea has tested multiple types of missile systems.
In January, the North's military fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile - which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
A week later, North Korea tested its nuclear underwater attack drone which is reportedly capable of sparking a "radioactive tsunami".
The US and its Asian allies have responded by strengthening their combined military exercises - which Kim calls rehearsals for invasion.
- At the brink of war
The current South Korean government is led by president Yoon Suk Yeol, who shares hawkish view of North Korea compared to his predecessor.
He has increased efforts to collaborate with the US and Japan to combat the North's aggressive moves in a bid to deter the war.
In turn, Kim threatened to "annihilate" Seoul if provoked and vowed to enhance his country's ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and America's allies in the Pacific.
Experts say that Kim is trying to stoke up anger by conducting more missile tests and possibly launching small-scale physical attacks on its neighbour to meddle with South Korea' s elections in April.
As Kim watched the firing drills on Thursday, he was left positively assured that the units are "fully ready for constant mobilization for battles," according to KCNA.
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The report stated: “He stressed the need to train all the artillerymen of the whole army into experts in artillery engagement … and set forth important tasks for rounding off the artillery war preparations.”
The state media added that Thursday's drill "fulfilled important military missions for war deterrence".
Kim insisted that military scaled up its preparation so the artillery sub-units could deliver "merciless and rapid strikes" the moment a war broke out.
Kim continues to step up pressure on Seoul, declaring it the "principal enemy" and threatening all-out nuclear war over "even 0.001 mm" of territory invasion.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested its nuclear underwater attack drone in a chilling warning shot to the US, Japan and South Korea carrying out war drills.
A North Korean defence ministry spokesman accused the US and its Asian allies of "getting frantic" with their three-day military drill - and warned of "catastrophic consequences".
Earlier in January, Kim's sister - Kim Yo-Jong - pledged to unleash an "immediate military strike" on South Korea over the "slightest provocation".
The close ally of the dictator said North Korea wouldn't hesitate to attack its "enemy" as tensions explode on the border.
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Pyongyang's isolated government is also forging closer ties with Moscow and it attempts to solidify its position in the growing anti-Western axis of evil.
On December 29 and January 2, Russia used North Korean missiles to blitz Ukraine for the first time, leaving at least 50 people dead.
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