North Korea: According to state media, Mr. Kim Jong Un instructed the military of North Korea to step up preparations for a “real war” as he oversaw a fire assault rehearsal with his daughter by his side.

Photographs showed Mr. Kim and his daughter, both wearing matching black jackets, accompanied by uniformed officers as they watched an artillery unit fire a volley of missiles, as per the statement. The South Korean military claimed to have discovered one ballistic missile launch and to be investigating the likelihood of other launches from the same location.

The exercise was conducted as South Korea and the US were getting ready to begin their biggest joint drills in five years. The nuclear-armed North is conducting increasingly aggressive forbidden weapons tests, while the South is responding by increasing security cooperation with Washington. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their worst points in decades.

Another high-profile appearance for Mr. Kim’s daughter, Ms. Ju Ae, who South Korean intelligence believes to be his second child, was the drill. Long claiming that its nuclear and missile programmes are for self-defence, Pyongyang has reacted angrily to US-South Korea military drills by branding them as invasion drills.

According to experts, North Korea’s air force is its military’s weakest link, and this exercise shows how they want to make up for it.

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