North Korea said Friday that leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger capability to cope with any foreign provocation as he met with military officers ahead of annual drills next month between South Korea and the United States that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.
Earlier this week, Kim reopened suspended communication channels with rival South Korea, raising hopes of reduced animosities on the Korean Peninsula. But some experts say Pyongyang could conduct missile tests or take other tension-raising actions in response to the drills, which Seoul and Washington have altered in past years to support diplomacy.
During the meeting, Kim “stressed that commanders and political officers should focus all efforts on completing preparations for actively and offensively coping with any military provocation of enemies,” KCNA said. Kim's speech carried by KCNA didn't mention his nuclear program and didn't contain any fiery rhetoric against the United States or South Korea.
Asked over a possibility for next month's drills being canceled or downsized, Boo Seung-Chan, a spokesman at South Korea's Defense Ministry, told a briefing Thursday that Seoul and Washington were reviewing factors like the pandemic's current status, efforts to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and their combined military readiness.
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