Kim Jong-GUN: Leather-clad North Korean dictator brandishes an assault rifle while inspecting troops as he tells army to 'intensify actual war drills'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandished a gun while inspecting a major operational training base, urging his military to intensify 'actual war drills', state media reported Thursday.

Wearing a black leather jacket, Kim was shown talking to ranks of heavily armed soldiers in camouflage, overseeing firing drills and inspecting weaponry, images in the official Korean Central News Agency showed.

During his Wednesday visit to the base in the country's western region, Kim told the North Korean army to 'steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness,' KCNA reported.

His visit comes as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as 'Freedom Shield', which involve field exercises, missile interception drills and some live firing.

Pyongyang has called the drills 'reckless', warning the allies they will pay a 'dear price'. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandished a gun while inspecting a major operational training base, urging his military to intensify 'actual war drills', state media reported Thursday

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (2nd L) inspects a major operational training base in the western area of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location in North Korea

He tried out various weapons and also military equipment as he overlooked the servicemen 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country

Kim told the North Korean army to 'steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness'

His visit comes as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as 'Freedom Shield'

KCNA photos also show Kim being applauded by soldiers, who 'pledged their intense loyalty' to him 'in the sacred struggle for the security of the country'.

North Korea has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion.

But Seoul said on Tuesday that its military was thoroughly prepared for North Korea's possible provocations.

The nuclear-armed North has in the past carried out weapons tests as a response to such joint exercises.

So far this year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its 'principal enemy', jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over 'even 0.001 mm' of territorial infringement.

Leader Kim repeated last month that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked.

In January, North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands, prompting a live-fire drill by the South and evacuation orders for residents after Kim pushed his armed forces into an even more intense regime of military preparedness at the start of the year.

Pyongyang has also carried out a slew of weapons tests including multiple cruise missile launches and an 'underwater nuclear weapon system' test, plus firing a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile.

Analysts have warned that North Korea could be testing cruise missiles ahead of sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine, with Washington and Seoul claiming Kim has shipped weapons to Moscow, despite rafts of UN sanctions banning any such moves.

'North Korea could be using recent launches as a way to show Russians the capability of their missiles before sending them off to Moscow,' Han Kwon-hee of Korea Association of Defence Industry Studies.

'The need to do it could be especially acute given recent reports of North Korean shells going awry when used by Russian troops,' he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects field training of troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country, as he ordered heightened readiness for war, KCNA news agency reported, in North Korea, in this picture released on March 7, 2024

Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting a major operational training base in the western area of the Korean People's Army

He said that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects field training of troops

Leader Kim repeated last month that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 31 January 2024 shows the launch of the strategic cruise missile 'Hwasal-2' in the West Sea of Korea in North Korea

This picture taken on January 30, 2024 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 31 shows an explosion from a 'Hwasal-2' strategic cruise missile

The South Korean military said it 'stepped up surveillance in close coordination with the United States' in response to the tests.

The military is 'closely monitoring for signs of additional activity' by the North Korean army, it said, adding they were 'closely analysing' the previous missile launches.

Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

Even as Kim ramps up the rhetorical threats against the South, the testing spree plus suspected Russian arms deals indicate 'a dog that barks but never bites,' Kwon-hee said.

'If he was really serious about a war, he wouldn't have said it but kept it in the dark for a surprise attack. He also wouldn't have sold arms to Russia if he were really into going to war with the South.'

The US stations about 30,000 troops in the South to help it fend off military threats from Pyongyang.