North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the intensification of military exercises during a visit to a military training base during a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States of America (US).
According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim visited the military base two days after the start of the “Freedom Shield” exercise, which is being conducted by South Korea and the United States.
During Kim’s visit to the base in the country’s west, he inspected training facilities and military unit training and ordered the military to step up exercises to improve its combat capabilities to control “overwhelming” enemies and their “slightest attempts at war.”
Condemning the joint exercise between South Korea and the US, Kim warned that South Korea would pay a “big price”.
On March 4, South Korea and the US began a joint military exercise called “Freedom Shield” with the aim of “strengthening the joint defense posture”.
It was announced that the exercise aims to increase the joint defense posture of the two countries, and that the focus will be on responding to multi-domain and nuclear operations using land, sea, air and cyber tools.
Advanced F-35A fighter jets from both countries participated in the exercise in a united front.
