N. Korean leader attends artillery fire competition

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided an artillery fire competition, stressing that modern warfare is the "warfare of artillery pieces," state media reported Friday.

His attendance in the fire competition held Thursday came after the North test-fired three projectiles off its east coast Monday, the second weapons test that the communist state had carried out this month.

"The competition was aimed to suddenly make selective inspection and evaluation of how the artillery forces of each corps are getting themselves combat ready," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim was also quoted as calling for "always bearing deep in mind that modern warfare is precisely the warfare of artillery pieces and the combat preparations of the artillerymen are exactly those of the People's Army."

On his order, all the artillery pieces were fired, turning the "target islet" into "a sea of flames," the KCNA said.

The KCNA did not provide details on the exact location where the fire competition was held.

Kim supervised test-firings of projectiles twice this month -- each in the North's eastern towns of Wonsan and Sondok. They appear to be part of the North's winter military drill.

The winter military drill is under way despite the North's nationwide efforts to prevent the outbreak of the new coronavirus that originated in its neighboring China and has been sweeping around the world.

Seoul has urged Pyongyang to restrain from raising tensions, saying such drills will not help bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea conducted missile tests 13 times last year, with the latest one carried out in November in a show of force and frustration over stalemated denuclearization talks with Washington.

Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled since the no-deal summit between Kim and Trump in February last year.

Kim told a party meeting late in December that he does not feel bound anymore by his self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, saying that the world will witness a "new strategic weapon" in the near future. (Yonhap)