North Korea conducts artillery firing drills in likely response to South Korea-U.S. military training

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised artillery firing drills aimed at boosting combat readiness, state media reported on March 8, days after his country vowed to take corresponding military steps against the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military training that it regards as an invasion rehearsal.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised artillery firing drills aimed at boosting combat readiness, state media reported on March 8, days after his country vowed to take corresponding military steps against the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military training that it regards as an invasion rehearsal.

Thursday's (March 7) drills involved frontline artillery units, whose weapons place Seoul, the South Korean capital, in their striking range, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim Jong Un said artillery units must “take the initiative with merciless and rapid strikes at the moment of their entry into an actual war,” KCNA said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, on March 8, it had detected North Korea firing artillery into the waters off its west coast the previous day. It said South Korea will make a stern and overwhelming response in the event of provocations by North Korea.

North Korea's forward-deployed long-range artillery guns pose a serious security threat to Seoul, a city with 10 million people which is about 40 to 50 km (25 to 30 miles) from the border with North Korea.

North Korea's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it would conduct unspecified "responsible military activities” in response to the annual South Korea-U.S. military drills that began on Monday. Kim visited a western operational training ground on Wednesday and called for stronger war fighting capabilities.