North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the volatile geopolitical situation around his country means now is the time for it to be more ready for war than ever, North Korea's official KCTA news agency reported today, as quoted by Reuters and BTA.
Kim made the comments during a visit to North Korea's main military university.
The North Korean leader gave instructions yesterday to students and faculty at the Kim Jong-il University of Military Science and Politics, named after his father, who died in 2011. The KCTA defines this university as the "highest military training school" in the country.
In recent years under Kim, North Korea has accelerated weapons development and established closer military and political ties with Russia, allegedly assisting Moscow in its war in Ukraine in exchange for Russian aid for strategic North Korean defense projects, it said Reuters.
"If the enemy chooses the military confrontation with the DPRK, then the DPRK will strike the enemy with death, without an iota of hesitation, mobilizing all means at its disposal,'' Kim told the students and faculty, as quoted by the KCTA.
"Given the complex international situation... and the uncertain and unstable military situation around the DPRK, he said that now is the time to be more ready for war than ever before," the KCTA quoted the North Korean leader as saying.