Kim‘s military inspections intended to show off defense capabilities: analysts


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s successive military visits are intended to show off the country‘s defense capacities as South Korea and the United States are conducting two major military drills in March, analysts in Seoul said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported Kim made a visit to military units for the fourth day in a row.
According to previous KCNA reports, Kim inspected military equipment during his visit on Sunday to the Korean People‘s Army Unit 1501 and inspected a special forces unit and two battalions belonging to the special forces unit on Friday and Saturday.
On Monday, Kim “guided the landing and anti-landing drills of KPA (Korean People’s Army) Large Combined Units 324 and 287, and KPA Navy Combined Unit 597,” the KCNA said.
Citing the report, a South Korean military source said, “The North Korean military is seen as having conducted a large-scale combined training attended by leader Kim Jong-un.
”Landing forces and ground forces jointly carried out the combined exercise,” the official said, adding the training took place in the eastern city of Wonsan.
Analysts in Seoul said the widely reported military visits by Kim may have come as the country‘s response to the two joint military drills by the South and the U.S.
The allies conducted the 11-day Key Resolve military drills earlier in March and their two-month field training exercise, Foal Eagle, is still underway.
The North has threatened that the intensive military drills are a clear declaration of war against the North.
”Kim Jong-un’s continued military activities indicate his reaction to the pressure the South and the U.S. have put on North Korea through the military exercises,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korean studies professor at Dongkuk University. "The top leader‘s appearances (at military units) show the North’s stern intention to counter (any provocations),” he said.
The leader‘s military inspections may be also intended to tighten his grip on the powerful group and check their defense readiness, analysts also said.
As tensions escalated following the North’s Feb. 12 nuclear test, Pyongyang ratcheted up its military threats against the South and the U.S., threatening to launch a nuclear counterattack upon any provocations.
The North had previously reported that Kim also made military inspections for four consecutive days following the February nuclear test. (Yonhap News)