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| Saturday, 12 April 2003 |
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N.Korea's Kim says air force ready to beat "enemy" SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has visited an air force base and told pilots he was satisfied they were ready to "beat back the enemy any time", the North's official KCNA news agency reported on Friday. It said Kim visited Flying Unit 887 on Thursday to speak to pilots and receive a briefing from the base commander. It was not clear what kind of aircraft the unit operates. Kim was absent from public view for 50 days until last week when he resumed known visits to military units, starting with a tour of a military medical university. "Seeing the pilots fully ready to cope with the moves of the enemy for aggression, he noted with great satisfaction that they are always maintaining a high degree of revolutionary vigilance and fully prepared to courageously beat back the enemy any time if he comes in attack," the agency said. "He praised them for reliably defending the sky over the country," it said. KCNA made no mention of the United States by name but North Korea routinely refers to it as the enemy. It also did not refer to the standoff with the United States over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear missile ambitions. Pyongyang says it will be Washington's next target once the U.S.-led war in Iraq is over, something the United States denies. KCNA said Kim watched the pilots train indoors. It did not refer to flying -- defence experts say North Korean pilots get just a handful of flying hours each year because of aviation fuel shortages, although front-line combat units are ready. Last month, four North Korean MiG fighter jets buzzed a U.S. spy plane in international airspace. |
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