By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-04-05 05:31:31 | Updated at 2025-04-05 15:36:27
10 hours ago
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un test-fired a newly developed sniper rifle, state media said on Saturday, as he inspected special forces whose training he said bolstered “actual war capability for guaranteeing victory”.
Such units are among the thousands of troops that South Korea’s spy agency says Pyongyang has deployed to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
During the visit to a special operations unit on Friday, Kim said the “actual war capability for guaranteeing victory in the war field is bolstered up through intensive training,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
He added that their training is “the most vivid expression of patriotism and loyalty to the country,” according to the agency.
Images released by state media showed Kim peering through the scope of a sniper rifle that KCNA said was going to be “newly supplied to special operation units”.
Other images showed him pointing to the bullseye of a target, crouching alongside heavily camouflaged soldiers, and smiling and waving to troops.
