Kim Jong Un commands air force drills, pushes for war readiness
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Kim Jong Un oversees air combat drills and urges the DPRK military to intensify war preparation, amid renewed tensions with the US over sanctions.
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In this photo provided by the DPRK government, Kim Jong Un, center, inspects the military exercises at an undisclosed place in the DPRK, Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un supervised military air drills this week, calling for a significant escalation in national war preparedness, according to state media reports published Saturday.
Kim observed air strike and anti-aircraft combat exercises conducted by the 1st Air Division of the DPRK's Air Force on Thursday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the leader urged "all units in the entire military" to deliver “a breakthrough in war preparation.”
Footage broadcast on state television showed a MiG-29 fighter jet launching what analysts say appeared to be a domestically produced version of a Russian-developed mid- to long-range air-to-air missile. “It appeared to be a North Korean version of a Russia-developed mid- to long-range air-to-air missile,” said Hong Min, a DPRK analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
The drills are part of an intensifying pattern of military activity by the DPRK in recent weeks. So far this month, Kim has overseen a missile launch, inspected tank and munitions factories, and conducted tank firing exercises and special operations training.
On Thursday, he also made a rare visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, reaffirming the country’s alliance with Moscow amid deepening international isolation and tightening sanctions.
Strengthening DPRK–Russia alliance
The visit to the Russian Embassy marked a symbolic gesture of growing alignment between the DPRK and Russia. While details of the meeting were not disclosed, state media emphasized the reaffirmation of bilateral ties.
The DPRK has consistently expressed support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine, and the two nations have exchanged diplomatic and military cooperation messages throughout the year.
Tensions with the United States escalated further this week after the US State Department maintained the DPRK on its annual list of countries that do not fully cooperate with US counterterrorism efforts, a designation it has held since 1997, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
In response, a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “The more the US provokes the DPRK with unnecessary and inefficient malicious acts, the further it will escalate the irreconcilable hostility between the DPRK and the US.”
The spokesperson added, “The DPRK will... take effective and proper measures to cope with the U.S. hostile provocations in all spheres.”
DPRK launches multiple ballistic missiles from Wonsan
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched several types of short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday in what South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff described as a deliberate provocation.
Fired from the Wonsan region, the missiles traveled around 800 kilometers before falling into the East Sea, also referred to as the Sea of Japan, with the entire launch sequence spanning roughly 70 minutes beginning at 8:10 am local time (23:10 GMT Wednesday).
This marks the DPRK’s first missile test since March and comes shortly after Kim Jong Un oversaw a separate weapons test tied to the country’s newest warship.
South Korea’s military condemned the launches as what it claimed was a “clear act of provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability,” adding that the situation is being monitored closely through the combined South Korea–US defense posture to prevent misjudgments or escalation.
Officials believe the timing of the test was calculated, not only as a show of military readiness but also in the context of growing strategic alignment with Russia.
