Kim Jong Un was seen smiling as he watched North Korean soldiers break bricks with their bare hands during a brutal training exercise in ...
Kim Jong Un was seen smiling as he watched North Korean soldiers break bricks with their bare hands during a brutal training exercise in Pyongyang on Monday.
The North Korean leader, 37, seemed to enjoy the extreme martial arts performance which saw soilders endure beatings from long poles, smash blocks and wooden planks over their heads, and lie on shards of broken glass.
A video of the display shows one soldier lying on a bed of nails balancing a thick concrete block on his chest, before another soldier smashes it with a hammer.
Kim Jong Un, 37, was seen smiling (pictured) as he watched North Korean soldiers endure beatings and lie on shards of broken glass in a brutal training exercise on Monday
The clip shows the North Korean dictator clapping and grinning as he sat in the stands next to his sister Kim Yo Jong as well as rows of senior North Korean military officers.
In a show of strength, the soldiers lined up to break concrete blocks with two leaping into the air to smash them with their feet. However, one ran straight into the blocks, breaking them with his face, to a loud applause.
Another bizzare exercise saw one shirtless soldier brace himself as he was hit with multiple blows from other soldier's beating him with long poles.
The extreme martial arts performance saw soldiers laying their bare arms on top of piles of bricks with other soldiers swinging hammers down on top to break them
A video of the display shows one soldier lying on a bed of nails balancing a thick concrete block on his chest, before another soldier smashes it with a hammer (pictured)
The clip shows the North Korean dictator clapping and grinning as he sat in the stands next to his sister Kim Yo Jong (centre, left) as well as rows of senior North Korean military officers
The dangerous display continued to more extremes, with soldiers laying their bare arms on top of piles of bricks, with other soldiers swinging hammers down on top - smashing the bricks underneath but apparantly leaving their arms unscathed.
For the grand finale, a soldier smashed two glass bottles together before lying down on top of the broken glass as two soilders place a concrete block on his chest and smash it with a hammer.
In the footage aired by state broadcaster KCTV, newsreader Ri Chun-hee, said: 'These soldiers, embraced and raised by our party, have demonstrated to the whole world the strength, bravery and morale of the Korean People's Army.'
In a show of strength, soldiers lined up to break concrete blocks with two leaping into the air to smash them with their feet - while one ran straight into the blocks, breaking them with his face
For the grand finale, a soldier lay down on top of broken glass as two soilders placed a large concrete block on his chest and smashed it with a hammer
The display was part of the opening ceremony for a defence exhibition this week which saw the dictator show off North Korea's latest weaponry including the Hwasong-8 hypersonic missile it allegedly tested last month which allegedly has nuclear capabilities.
Photos from the exhibition show Kim walking on a red carpet lined with big missiles mounted on trucks.
Also on display were an intercontinental ballistic missiles and a new long-range cruise missile, and US intelligence agencies said they are already analysing the equipment.
The display was part of the opening ceremony for a defence exhibition this week which saw the dictator show off North Korea's latest weaponry
In a speech at the exhibition, the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea blamed the United States for tensions on the peninsula saying it is the 'root cause' of instability
The leader of nuclear-armed North Korea blamed the United States for tensions, calling it the 'root cause' of instability in a speech, as he stood in front of an intercontinental ballistic missile
In a speech at the exhibition, the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea blamed the United States for tensions on the peninsula saying it is the 'root cause' of instability, state media Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim said his country's most important objective is possessing an 'invincible military capability' that no one can dare challenge.
He also used his speech at a rare exhibition of weapons systems to stress that his military might isn't targeted at South Korea and that there shouldn't be another war pitting Korean people against each other.
Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under Kim.
In 2017 it tested missiles that can reach the whole of the continental US and carried out by far its most powerful nuclear explosion to date, and Pyongyang says it needs its arsenal to protect itself against a US invasion.
The Biden administration has repeatedly stated that it has no hostile intent towards the North, but Kim told the 'Self-Defence 2021' exhibition, but he said there was 'no basis' in their actions.
In a speech at the exhibition in Pyongyang, Kim said his country's most important objective is possessing an 'invincible military capability' that no one can dare challenge
A slimmed down North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) speaks with officials during a visit to the 'Self-Defence-2021' defense development exhibition, in Pyongyang on Monday
Kim Jong Un (centre-right) presents a commendation award during the defence development exhibition 'Self-Defence-2021' at the Three-Revolution Exhibition House in Pyongyang
The dictator was pictured observing some of the country's military weapons at the Defence Development Exhibition
'The US has frequently signaled it's not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,' Kim said. 'The US is continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and actions.'
Kim's address came after the North in recent weeks tested a long-range cruise missile and what it said was a hypersonic weapon.
The exhibition was the first of its kind since Kim took power in late 2011, according to Seoul officials, and included a multiple rocket launch system on display as well as jets flying in a formation.
It featured an array of newly developed weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) North Korea has already test-launched or displayed during military parades in recent years, experts say.
Yang Wook, a military expert who teaches at South Korea's Hannam University, said the weapons in the photos include what appears to be a new ICBM that North Korea disclosed during a military parade last year but hasn't test-fired, Yang said. That missile mounted on an 11-axel launch vehicle during the parade is considered to be the North's biggest-yet ICBM.
The exhibition featured an array of newly developed weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) North Korea has already test-launched or displayed during military parades in recent years, experts say
Photos showed Kim walking on a red carpet lined with big missiles mounted on trucks, passing by a multiple rocket launch system and watching jets flying in a formation (pictured)
Other weapons on display were another ICBM that North Korea tested in 2017; ballistic missiles that can be fired from submarines or a train; solid-fueled, short-range missiles; and a developmental hypersonic missile that had its first test-flight last month, said Lee Choon Geun, a missile expert at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Seoul's Defense Ministry said South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing the North Korean weapons displayed but didn't elaborate.
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