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North Korea's leader supervises unscheduled air force exercise

Kim Jong Un supervised the exercises at a time when the United States and South Korea are holding joint military drills that will continue until April 25

© AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

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PYONGYANG, April 22. /ITAR-TASS/. Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un has supervised unscheduled exercises of the flying personnel of Air Force (AF) and Air Defense Unit 188, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief praised the air pilots for high professionalism manifested and "the readiness to deliver a relentless strike at enemy citadels at any time upon receiving an appropriate order". The DPRK leader ordered to raise the operational readiness of the unit through stepping up training in line with the requirements of modern warfare.

Kim Jong Un set new tasks to the commanders of the unit, which was awarded the honorary title of "The Seventh Regiment of O Jung Hiba" in honor of the hero of the anti-Japanese struggle. Such title is awarded in the DPRK only to military units that particularly distinguished themselves.

The First Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea and First Chairman of the State Committee for Defense was accompanied by Jang Jung Nam, the Minister of the People's Armed Forces, and other military figures. An area of the exercises has not been specified in the KCNA report.

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Situation in south of Korean Peninsula very grave— North Korean leader

Kim Jong Un supervised the exercises at a time when the United States and South Korea are holding joint AF maneuvers that will continue until April 25.

The DPRK's central newspaper Rodong Sinmun warns that such actions by the US and South Korea "aggravate the situation and bring about the risk of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula". The authorities of the USA and South Korea "should show prudence to avoid a relentless retaliatory strike by the powerful revolutionary army of the DPRK", the article emphasized.

This year the US-South Korean exercises in the airspace of the Republic of Korea with the participation of 100 aircraft and helicopters have become the largest-scale ones in history. The first joint AF exercises of the allies were held in 2009.

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North Korea United States South Korea

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