N. Korea's Kim visits navy command, calls for bolstering naval forces

2024-06-06 21:58:46      点击：675

This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Aug. 29, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, visiting the North's navy command, Aug. 27. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for bolstering naval forces as he visited the country's navy command, while denouncing South Korea, the United States and Japan for stepping up their trilateral military cooperation, according to the North's state media Tuesday.

The report came as Seoul, Washington and Tokyo staged a trilateral missile defense exercise in the international waters south of the Korean Peninsula earlier in the day in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats, including its purported space rocket launch last week.

During his visit to the navy command Sunday ahead of Navy Day, Kim stressed the navy should become a component of the country's nuclear deterrence, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"To achieve the successes in rapidly developing the naval force has become a very urgent issue in view of the enemies' recent aggressive attempts and character of military actions," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA in an English-language report.

North Korea commemorates Aug. 28 as Navy Day to mark the official establishment of its naval forces.

Claiming that the strengthening security cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington has made waters off the Korean Peninsula the "most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war," Kim called for the navy to maintain war readiness, it said.

"The prevailing situation requires our Navy to put all its efforts into rounding off the war readiness to maintain the constant combat alertness, and get prepared to break the enemy's will for war in contingency and carry out the military strategy of the Supreme Headquarters," Kim said.

Kim lashed out at the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, calling them "gang bosses," in an apparent criticism of their first stand-alone summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland earlier this month.

The three leaders reached a series of agreements during the summit, including a commitment to consult one another expeditiously in the event of common threats, hold annual joint military exercises and pursue enhanced ballistic missile defense cooperation to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Aug. 29, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting the North's navy command, Aug. 27, with his daughter Ju-ae, left. Yonhap

An official at South Korea's unification ministry said Kim's remarks appear to reflect his "sense of crisis" and condemned the rhetoric regarding the three leaders as "lacking the most basic courtesy" and unworthy of an assessment.

"It appears that Chairman Kim Jong-un has displayed a sense of crisis in the face of a groundbreaking evolution of cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan following their summit," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Kim's visit to the navy headquarters came days after he went to a navy unit where he inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship.

It also came as the North has been pushing ahead with building up its military capabilities by developing new weapons, ranging from underwater nuclear-capable attack drones to a military reconnaissance satellite, despite condemnation from the international community.

Hong Min, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said Kim's latest visit may signal that a deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the naval forces is imminent.

Kim was accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae during the visit, in what marked her first public appearance since May 16, when she showed up for an on-site inspection of a preparatory committee on the North's attempt to launch a military spy satellite.

The ministry official said Kim's visit to the navy command on the 74th Navy Day appeared to be "unusual," as it was first such visit marking the anniversary since he came to power in late 2011. The North usually celebrates fifth and 10th anniversaries with major celebrations. (Yonhap)