The agency said that the drills were to ensure that its military will “deliver merciless death to U.S. imperialist invaders and the Park Geun-hye puppet regime,” indicating that it was intended against South Korea and the U.S. The reclusive state has repeatedly expressed its discontent against the annual joint military drill, which Seoul military officials said was the “largest ever” this year.

Despite the North’s claims, South Korean military officials explained that such landing drills are an annual event that takes place every March and that they did not include any new weaponry. But the military added that it will keep an eye on the communist country for possible provocations, although it has not yet spotted any abnormalities.

The news of the drills followed a report by 38 North – which is run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies – that said that the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site appears ready to support new nuclear tests.

Kim had recently claimed that his troops have acquired technology to ensure its intercontinental ballistic missiles can reenter the atmosphere after being fired. He had also vowed to conduct related tests.

Seoul and Washington dismissed the claims, along with Pyongyang’s self-proclaimed capability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to mount onto a ballistic missile. The communist country’s Jan. 6 nuclear test and Feb. 7 long-range rocket launch led to the U.N. Security Council imposing strong sanctions against it.

The 38 North cited commercial satellite imagery that shows the main support area for the site appearing to be active with vehicle tracks and with visible footpaths. It added that snow has been cleared off the entrance of tunnels, indicating that they are being maintained for future tests.

Observers have said that Pyongyang may conduct another nuclear test before its ruling Workers’ Party’s convention in May.

A local news outlet, citing an anonymous government source, said that North Korean engineers are preparing to demonstrate the country’s nuclear assault prowess at the May convention, which is leading to exposure of the country’s missile and nuclear capacities. Earlier in the month, the North had revealed a spherical object presumed to be a detonation device for the nuclear warhead.

Experts at U.K.-based IHS Jane’s said that the device is unlikely to be a thermonuclear weapon as it claims, and added there is a possibility it is a boosted fission weapon.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said that the North is believed to have advanced its missile capacity, but did not comment on whether the device is real or a model as some experts have suggested.

Amid rising inter-Korea tensions, South Korea has reportedly raised its concerns over the North’s ballistic missiles to the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization. North Korea launched ballistic missiles into the East Sea on March 10 and March 18 in violation of the U.N. resolution passed earlier this month.

By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)