 Kim Jong Eun tours KPA Air and Anti-Air Force Unit 447. Image: Rodong Sinmun |
North Korea’s Chosun Central News Agency has provided details of Kim Jong Eun’s tour of Chosun People’s Army Air and Anti-Air Force Unit 447 based
in Pukchang County, South Pyongan Province, the latest in a string of official visits to air force bases.
According to a report published on the 14th, Kim
Jong Eun instructed the pilots to “make it part of their life and habit to
undergo training with the help of modern piloting training equipment while
flying aircraft a lot.”
Kim is said to have toured facilities at the base before viewing a performance put on by the pilots and their wives.
“Whenever I
visit the airfield where airmen are active, I feel as if I were entering the
yard of my old home,” he reportedly remarked.
This is the latest in a chain of air force inspections since
the “Max Thunder” U.S-ROK joint air drills that look place last month.
Shin In Gyun of the Korea Defense Network explained to Daily
NK, “[Kim Jong Eun’s inspections] are meant to show that attention is being
paid to conventional forces, as well the asymmetrical force of nuclear weapons.
They wish to convey that work is underway to strengthen the relatively inferior
power of the air force in preparation of a full-scale war.”
