“Only realistic training directly related to warfare can prepare soldiers as real combat fighters,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim said he was satisfied with North Korean troop readiness and ordered training to cope with all kinds of topography, weather, time, and the most severe conditions, KCNA reported.

North Korea’s drills took place after joint annual drills involving South Korea and the US were held.

The South Korean joint drills were the first since Pyongyang in November scrapped a 2018 inter-Korean military pact aimed at de-escalating tensions.

The 10-day Freedom Shield exercises that wrapped up on Thursday saw participation from an unprecedented number of member states from the US-led United Nations Command, which has operated as part of the armistice that came at the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.