North Korea’s military exercises took place in parallel with the last day of the annual joint Freedom Shield maneuvers between the United States and South Korea, considered by Pyongyang as invasion rehearsals against its territory.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju-ae, supervised offensive military exercises during which a new tank capable of intercepting drone and missile attacks was tested, the KCNA news agency reported.
Kim observed a joint tactical attack exercise with infantry troops and tank units on Thursday, the same day that joint US-South Korean maneuvers ended at a base in Pyongyang that featured drones and armored vehicles.
As the simulation began, several attack drones struck enemy positions based on real-time reconnaissance data, while other attack units in the rear destroyed enemy drones.
Subsequently, these units invaded and occupied the enemy’s defensive lines and fire positions.
Several tests were carried out on the “active protection system” of a new main battle tank, capable of intercepting anti-tank missiles and drones “with 100% effectiveness”, the North Korean state news agency reported.
According to Kim, this equipment has no parallel “in the world” in terms of firepower, mobility and defensive capabilities.
Images of the exercises show the North Korean leader and his daughter — who is speculated to be Kim’s possible successor — aboard a tank during the visit to the base where the maneuvers were carried out, in which a company from the cavalry regiment, the main armored unit of the reserve operations group, and special operations units participated.
North Korea’s military exercises took place in parallel with the last day of the annual joint Freedom Shield maneuvers between the United States and South Korea, considered by Pyongyang as invasion rehearsals against its territory.
The Washington and Seoul maneuvers, in which around 18,000 military personnel participated, began on March 9 and took place amid speculation about a possible transfer of North American Patriot anti-missile systems from South Korea to the Middle East, in the context of the US and Israeli war against Iran.
Just one day after the start of these joint exercises, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, warned that they could lead to “dire consequences”.
KCNA reported that Kim Jong-un supervised, on March 10, a test launch of cruise missiles from a destroyer and that, four days later, the regime carried out a test of “twelve ultra-precise multiple launchers of 600 millimeters in caliber”.
