The North Korean military has kicked off a winter exercise at the instruction of leader Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang’s state media reported Tuesday.
All troops of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) started “the new year combat and political drill,” said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The North’s military routinely holds such training from December through March.
The North’s leader chose an artillery unit for his first “field guidance” during the defense exercise season.
He inspected “the Artillery Company under KPA Unit 963,”
teaching ways to make the company “one of the crack shots by conducting the drill suited to the nature of its combat duty,” according to the KCNA.
Kim underscored the need for the troops to be fully prepared for victory in any combat mission, it added.
He also stressed the importance of “specialized training under the simulated conditions of an actual war” and physical training by soldiers, said the KCNA.
Kim was accompanied by Hwang Pyong-so, director of the general political bureau of the KPA, and Pak Jong-chon, vice-chief of the KPA general staff and director of its fire-command department. (Yonhap)
