▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L, front row) and his daughter Ju-ae (R, front row) oversee a coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen's and tankmen's subunits on March 19, 2026, at the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Capital City Defence Corps of the Korean People's Army, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the following day. (Yonhap)
▲ Aboard a military battle tank, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R, front row) and his daughter Ju-ae (C) oversee a coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen's and tankmen's subunits on March 19, 2026, at the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Capital City Defence Corps of the Korean People's Army, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the following day. (Yonhap)
▲ A military battle tank is seen during North Korea's coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen's and tankmen's subunits on March 19, 2026, at the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Capital City Defence Corps of the Korean People's Army, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency the following day. (Yonhap)
▲ This photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on March 20, 2026, shows a scene from North Korea's coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen's and tankmen's subunits the previous day at the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Capital City Defence Corps of the Korean People's Army. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) NK leader-military drill

(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim oversees combined drill involving new main battle tanks

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info, photos, throughout)

SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a joint offensive drill featuring new main battle tanks equipped with an "active protection system," saying ground troops will be equipped with the "superior" tank "extensively," state media reported Friday.

Kim oversaw "a coordinated offensive tactical drill of infantrymen's and tankmen's sub-units" a day earlier at the Pyongyang Training Base No. 60 under the Capital City Defence Corps of the Korean People's Army, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The drill also involved "various tests" to assess the new main battle tank's active protection system, during which it intercepted all anti-tank missiles and drones attacking from different positions and directions to "prove the efficiency of its superior active protection system," the KCNA said.

Kim touted the tank as "very superior" and "unequaled in the world in its striking power and mobility," as well as in its self-defense capacity.

During the development of the tank, special attention was paid to improving its survivability, Kim also said, emphasizing its mobile self-defensive complex capable of detecting threats from all directions and striking anti-tank guided missiles and drones with high precision.

"It is a great change that our armored forces that were ineffective during night operations have completely overcome their combat limitations," the leader noted."From now on, our ground forces will be equipped with these superior tanks extensively."

The leader also emphasized the need to steadily improve the main battle tank's performance to keep pace with the trend of ever-developing modern warfare, also urging "rapid successes in completing war preparations" across all army units.

Photos released by North Korea's state media showed Ju-ae, Kim's daughter believed to be being groomed as his successor, riding in a tank with her father, marking her latest appearance at a key military event.

Thursday's drill was aimed at "getting familiar with the coordinated order and combat methods" in the tactical subunits' offensive action to enhance their attack capabilities in striking, raiding and occupying an enemy's anti-armor defense line, the KCNA said.

Drones struck the enemy's command post based on real-time reconnaissance data, while anti-tank missiles fired from an armored car subunit hit targets. Rear strike subunits then destroyed enemy drones and armed helicopters from ambush positions before occupying the enemy's anti-armor defense line to enable tanks and infantrymen to launch attacks, the KCNA said.

The drill was carried out on the last day of this year's 11-day Freedom Shield, the annual springtime joint exercise between South Korea and the United States, which the North bitterly denounces as a rehearsal for war.

The battle tank demonstrated on Thursday's drill appears to be the Chonma-20 main battle tank, which the country unveiled for the first time at a military parade in October last year.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the latest drill may have demonstrated what the North has learned from its participation in the Russia-Ukraine war, including the central role played by drones in ground battles.

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