김수연
| 2023-12-01 16:20:45
(2nd LD) N Korea-air force
(2nd LD) N. Korean leader urges increased aerial combat posture amid tension over satellite launch
(ATTN: RECASTS with more details throughout)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the air force to enhance its combat posture to "immediately and powerfully" respond to military threats by enemies, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday.
Kim made the call during a visit to the Air Force Command on Thursday on the occasion of the Day of Airmen that fell on Nov. 29, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The visit came amid fresh tension on the Korean Peninsula following the North's launch of a military spy satellite and its vow to resume all military measures halted under a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.
At the command, Kim laid out guidelines to boost the combat readiness by the air force, calling it the "core service" of the country's armed forces.
"He set forth operational and tactical policies arising in putting the air force on a regular combat posture and increasing its capabilities to fight a war to the full so as to counter any military provocation and threat of the enemy immediately and powerfully," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.
North Korea's state media released rare photos of what appears to be the interior of the air force's operation command post.
Kim looked at some images projected on an oversized display screen on the floor and on displays installed on the wall were blurred images of the peninsula, part of Japan and Southeast Asian countries, as well as the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea did not specify whether those images were taken from the spy satellite that it launched on Nov. 21. But words like "north latitude" or "Pyongyang time" are spotted on the displays, raising the possibility that the images could be photos or footage transmitted from the satellite.
Pyongyang has claimed the spy satellite has taken photos of major facilities and military installations in South Korea and the United States, including the White House and Pentagon. But the North has not released related satellite photos.
South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement last week in response to the satellite launch, condemned as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
In a tit-for-tat, North Korea said it would restore all military measures halted under the military accord aimed at reducing cross-border tensions and preventing accidental clashes.
North Korea was seen rebuilding guard posts and placing heavy firearms along the tense border with South Korea, after effectively scrapping the military accord.
North Korea's air force is widely viewed as relatively weak among its conventional forces. It has a total of 1,570 aircraft, including 810 combat aircraft, according to South Korea's 2022 defense white paper.
The white paper said North Korea is pushing to bolster its air defense capability through the development and deployment of new surface-to-air missiles as its introduction of new combat aircraft is limited.
Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, Kim also visited an air force regiment with his daughter, believed to be named Ju-ae, and watched a demonstration flight at an observation post, the KCNA said.
Photos carried by state media showed the North's leader and his daughter, dressed in long leather jackets and wearing sunglasses, overseeing the flight, with one of them highlighting Ju-ae in front of her father.
Radio Free Asia, a U.S.-based media outlet, recently reported Kim's daughter has received the new official title of the "Morning Star of Korea," a title once used by late founder Kim Il-sung.
Ju-ae, believed to be around 10 years old, made her first public appearance on Nov. 18, 2022, when she, along with her father, attended the firing of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho earlier left open the possibility that Ju-ae could be an heir apparent to succeed Kim Jong-un.
Many observers still say her repeated public appearances, mainly on military-focused events, are intended to show that she is a symbol of the future generation, not an anointed successor.
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