The UPI reported him as saying this during an annual winter training exercise that took place as the United Nations Security Council adopted a new sanctions resolution that target Pyongyang’s coal exports.
UPI quoting North Korea state-controlled television network KCTV, reported that Kim suggested Seoul must be taught a lesson.
“This is how we must forcefully respond to those South Koreans. At first strike we must completely break the will of those South Koreans and wipe them all out,” Kim said, according to KCTV.
The training exercise was held near a disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea, and close to the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which North Korea shelled in 2010, resulting in four South Korean casualties.
Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA reported the artillery units participating in the exercises included the 6th Marine brigade and another frontline unit responsible for targeting Seoul, the South Korean capital.
Kim stayed to watch the drills that included the rapid firing of artillery after being briefed on the training plan, according to the report.
North Korea state media described an island targeted for training was filled with loud explosions and light and likened the spectacle to a “delightful moment” that simulated the sight of “the enemy’s cities and military targets submerged in a sea of fire.”
Kim described the explosions as a “fascinating sight” and asked that the North Korean troops that would advance South be “given wings” by the artillery units.
Pyongyang has previously defended the bombardment of the South Korean island and warned of another “brutal baptism of fire” in November.
