NK ramps up rhetoric on ROK-US drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected another frontline military unit, Pyongyang said Tuesday as the regime increased its tough talk against the ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills.

Kim ordered troops of the (North) Korean People’s Army large combined unit 313 on the eastern border to “deal prompt deadly blows” if attacked by “enemies…staging war drills for aggression,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

It did not release the date of the visit.

Seoul and Washington are carrying out their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), which Pyongyang insists is a rehearsal for an invasion. The allies maintain the computer-assisted games are defensive in nature.

The exercises, slated to wrap up this week were put on hold Tuesday as Typhoon Bolaven whipped through the peninsular.

While such rhetoric is typical during the drills, Pyongyang has taken a particularly hard line stance this year, the first under leader Kim Jong-un, who took charge in December. Analysts say the heightened rhetoric intends to build solidarity at home as Kim builds his credentials.

Kim, who heads the 1.2 million-strong army, addressed the drills directly during a banquet observing the 52nd anniversary of the country’s “military-first” policy implemented by his late father Kim Jong-il.

“If the enemies fire even a single shell on our inviolable territory and territorial waters, the KPA should deal prompt deadly blows at them and the whole army should turn out as one and lead the battle to an all-out counter-offensive for accomplishing the great cause of national reunification,” state media quoted him as saying.

The visit followed one reported earlier this month to the border artillery unit on island of Mudo. Located near the flashpoint West Sea border, the unit was responsible for the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. Kim ordered troops to turn the sea into a “graveyard of invaders” if the North’s territory was violated.

He also visited an all-female artillery unit on the eastern border this month and issued similar orders.

Some say the young leader is taking the drills as an opportunity to reinforce military ideology and strike a security balance as the country appears to be pursuing economic reforms.

The UFG this year involves some 56,000 South Korean troops and about 30,000 U.S. soldiers. The Combined Forces Command here said it informed the North that the games are defensive in nature. <The Korea Times/Kim Young-jin>

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