North Korea's Kim supervises special operations' drills, urges full preparations for war
Published on May 14, 2025
By IANS
- SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has supervised combined tactical
drills of special operations, stressing that the most "crucial" task
for the North's armed forces is to make full preparations for war, state media
reported Wednesday.
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- The combined tactical drills of special operations and
tank subunits' joint fire strike demonstration took place the previous day,
Yonhap news agency reported quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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- "Saying that our revolutionary armed forces are now
in charge of not a few fronts, but the most important among them is the
anti-imperialist class front and making full preparations for war is the most
crucial task," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
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- He also said the combat drills will help "turn the
whole army into an elite ranks."
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- Kim appears to have highlighted the concept of the
anti-imperialist class front to justify the North's deployment of troops to
Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.
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- Photos carried by state media showed North Korean troops
in camouflage suits operating drones. South Korea's spy agency earlier said it
detected signs of North Korean troops deployed to Russia learning drone
operations and tactics from Moscow.
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- Last month, North Korea acknowledged for the first time
that it has sent troops to Russia to fight against Ukrainian forces. During a
visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang last week, Kim said the North's
involvement in the war was "justifiable," calling it an exercise of
sovereign rights under a mutual defense treaty with Moscow.