North Korea prepares ‘for real war' as Kim Jong Un sends more troops to Russia
Kim's remarks follow the North's deployment of troops and weapons to help Russia during its more than three-year long offensive in Ukraine.
Video footage aired by state-run Korea Central Television on Thursday showed soldiers from artillery units firing shells toward the sea.
Kim is seen looking through binoculars at an observation post, flanked by two military officials, but the location for Wednesday's contest was not disclosed.
He urged the soldiers to be ready 'for real war' at 'anytime' and be capable of 'destroying the enemy in every battle', the Korean Central News Agency reported in an English dispatch.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have reported Pyongyang sent more than 10 000 soldiers to Russia's Kursk region in 2024, along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.
Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.
Various sources/AFP
Kim offered Moscow his full support for its war in Ukraine during recent talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, state media reported previously.
The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang.
European Council President Antonio Costa urged China on Thursday to 'use its influence' with Russia to help end the Ukraine war, as EU chiefs met Beijing's top leader.
'As a permanent member of United Nations Security Council, we call on China to use its influence on Russia to respect the United Nations Charter and to bring an end... (to the) war of aggression against Ukraine,' Costa said.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that an Indian company shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December, according to Indian customs data seen by Reuters, despite US threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia's Ukraine war effort.
One of the Russian companies listed as receiving the compound, known as HMX or octogen, is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez, which an official at Ukraine's SBU security service said has ties to the country's military.
The official said that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory.
According to the Pentagon's Defense Technical Information Center and related defence research programmes, HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems.
The US government has identified HMX as 'critical for Russia's war effort' and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow.
The HMX sale to Russian firms has not been previously reported.
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