North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected field training of troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country on Wednesday and ordered heightened readiness for war, state KCNA news agency reported on Thursday.
The tour of the base, the location of which was not identified, comes after the start of annual combined military drills by U.S. and South Korean forces on Monday in the South with twice the number of troops taking part compared to last year.
Kim said the military must "dynamically usher in a new heyday of intensifying the war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation," KCNA reported.
"Our army should ... steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness," KCNA quoted Kim as telling the troops.
KCNA did not mention whether Kim directly referred to the drills by the U.S. and South Korean military. He inspected troops conducting actual maneuvers under conditions simulating actual war, KCNA said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
5 Soldiers Critically Injured In Encounter With Terrorists In J&K's Doda
North Korean Diplomat Defects From Cuba To South Korea: Report North Korea Denounces Declaration At NATO Summit "Suicidal Hysteria": Kim Jong Un's Sister Hits Out At South Korea Military Drills Under-Fire Trainee IAS Officer Accuses Pune Collector Of Harassment "No Defamatory Remarks Against Governor": High Court To Mamata Banerjee Trainee IAS Officer Puja Khedkar Recalled To Academy, Training Put On Hold UGC Launches Project To Develop 22,000 Books In Indian Languages IPS Officer's Husband Laundered Money In India, Abroad: Probe Agency Government Announces Partial Rollback Of Fee Hike In 13 Medical Colleges Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.