North Korea leader Kim oversees firing of new air defence missiles, KCNA says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the firing of new air defence missiles to test their combat capability, state media KCNA reported on Sunday.

The report came ahead of the summit on Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea President Lee Jae Myung.

Earlier this month, Kim condemned the U.S.-South Korea joint military drills as their intent to remain “most hostile and confrontational” to his country, pledging to speed up nuclear build-up.

The new anti-air weapon systems showed “fast response” to aerial targets such as attack drones and cruise missiles, KCNA said.

The last border confrontation between the arch-rivals was in early April when South Korea’s military fired warning shots after around 10 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the frontier.

Read more: Seoul says fired warning shots after North Korean troops crossed border

North Korea’s military announced last October that it was moving to totally shut off the southern border, saying it had sent a message to US forces to “prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict”.

Shortly after, it blew up sections of the unused but deeply symbolic roads and railroad tracks that connect the North to the South. Ko warned that North Korea’s army would retaliate against any interference with its efforts to seal the border permanently.

“If the act of restraining or obstructing the project unrelated to the military character persists, our army will regard it as deliberate military provocation and take corresponding countermeasures,” he said.