North Korean Leader Inspects Tank Division, Urges Boosting Combat Capability

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected the headquarters of the 105th tank division of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and a tank armored infantry regiment for combat readiness, while assigning operational combat tasks for boosting defense capabilities, North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported on Monday.

The unit was formed as the first tank unit of the North Korean revolutionary armed forces in August 1948 on the initiative of then-President Kim Il Sung.

"Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, inspected the headquarters of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and the First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment under the direct control of the division on March 24," KCNA reported.

The North Korean leader was accompanied by Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee Pak Jong Chon, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, and Ri Yong Gil, chief of the KPA General Staff, the report said.

"After being briefed on the division's plan for offensive and defensive operations by its commander, Kim Jong Un examined combat documents and indicated the operational combat tasks and orientation of combat training of the combined units under the division," the state media reported.