Kim Jong Un was seen test-firing a sniper rifle and guiding a general training of the special operation units of North Korean troops during his visit to an undisclosed training base, state media reported.
The North Korean leader inspected special forces whose training he said “bolstered actual war capability for guaranteeing victory”.
Pyongyang has deployed such special units, among thousands of its troops, to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korea’s spy agency.
Mr Kim received a salute from the commanding officers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) and then from an observation post watched the general tactical training and small-arms shooting contest carried out by combatants of special operations, the KCNA reported.
“He personally conducted the test-fire of a sniper rifle to be newly supplied to special operations units and learned about its results, expressing great satisfaction over the performance and power of the sniper rifle developed in our own way,” the KCNA reported on Saturday.
The North Korean state media said that the training was aimed at “steadily exploring and applying new military tactics and methodologies of Korean style” to keep up with the changing trend of modern warfare.
The training exercise was to prepare the North Korean forces “for real war so as to prepare all combatants more thoroughly to reliably and skilfully” to carry out special operations tasks under any combat situation, the KCNA said.
Western nations have warned that North Korea is increasingly strengthening its troops’ real-time military capabilities by sending them in Russia’s war on Ukraine and gaining battlefield experience.
North Korea “is significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbours”, Dorothy Camille Shea, the deputy US ambassador to the UN told the UN Security Council in January.
This comes as North Korea held its first Pyongyang International Marathon in six years on Sunday as it hosted around 200 foreign athletes, marking the first such event in the hermit kingdom which has sealed shut its borders since the pandemic.
Athletes from China, Romania and other countries visited to participate in the event, state media KCNA news agency and Rodong Sinmun reported on Sunday.
The Pyongyang Marathon was hosted by an independent British tour operator Koryo Tours based in Beijing.
Route for the marathon will see athletes run through central Pyongyang, pass major landmarks and head out into the countryside before returning through the city to a stadium of 50,000 spectators.
The rare marathon is one of several events held to celebrate the 15 April birthday of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder and grandfather of current leader Mr Kim.
