North Korea leader Kim Jong Un drove a “new-type main battle tank” while overseeing military training exercises, state media says, as Seoul and Washington wrap joint drills to improve deterrence.
Wearing a black leather jacket, Kim saluted ranks of camouflage-uniformed troops, and watched live-fire “training march” exercises from a field command post, flanked by top generals, images published by state media show.
After he reviewed the tank crews, Kim “mounted a new-type main battle tank, seized the control lever and drove the tank himself,” the official Korean Central News Agency reports.
The KCNA report comes as Seoul and Washington hold the final day of their annual Freedom Shield exercises — involving missile interception drills and air assault, among others.
The nuclear-armed North has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion. It has carried out weapons tests in the past as a response to previous joint exercises of this nature.
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Thursday, March 14, 2024
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