Leader of the North Korea Kim Jong-Un claimed that he is getting ready to war with the USA and 'puppet South Korean regime'.

He made the statement during the Air Force drills, which as he said, were part of the preparation.

Also read: Kim Jong-un 'un-Kims' North Korea

The drills were carried out on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean war of 1950-1953, Pravda.Ru reports.

Kim said the contest was intended to "bring about a radical turn in the drills to round off preparations for a war full of the will to settle with arms accounts with the U.S. imperialists, the chieftain of aggression, and the South Korean puppet group keen to escalate the confrontation with the fellow countrymen and that of social systems, seized with sycophancy toward the U.S."

He added: "Gone forever is the era when the United States blackmailed us with nukes; now the United States is no longer a source of threat and fear for us and we are the very source of fear for it."
- See more at: http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/30-07-2015/131527-kim-0/#sthash.58ccNUzs.dpuf

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un claimed Friday he was ready to go to war with the United States and the "puppet" South Korean regime. The hermit kingdom's leader made the comments while observing North Korean Air Force drills marking the 62nd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War, according to a report by Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

"Gone forever is the era when the United States blackmailed us with nukes," said Jong-Un in the Pravda report. "Now the United States is no longer a source of threat and fear for us and we are the very source of fear for it."

While the United States was unlikely to be moved by North Korea's threats, the country does still stand out as a dangerous nation in the region and counts China and Russia as close allies.

Since the country's previous leader Kim Jong-il died in 2011, the country's political and military situation has been volatile and unpredictable. Despite some who thought the regime change would bring relief to the country, Jong-Un has kept the brutal status quo.

In addition to crippling hunger and poverty in the country, Jong-Un has a gruesome record of disposing of anyone who he felt was a threat to his continued dictatorship, which has included members of his own family. The country has also been sporadically testing ballistic missiles in recent months and has continuously antagonized South Korea by hosting military exercises close to the demilitarized zone between it and the South.

Jong-Un said that the recent military drills were designed to "bring about a radical turn” and would “round off preparations for a war with the U.S. imperialists” and the “South Korean puppet group keen to escalate the confrontation with the fellow countrymen and that of social systems.”

Last month, a North Korean soldier was arrested after walking across the heavily armed border with the South. It’s believed he was attempting to defect.

North Korea says it is facing its worst drought in a century, sparking fears of worsening food shortages.

State news agency KCNA said main rice-growing provinces had been badly affected and more than 30% of rice paddies were "parching up".

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to have died during a widespread famine in the 1990s.

This drought is unlikely to be as deadly because of recent agricultural reforms, correspondents say.

The United Nations World Food Programme says North Korea regularly faces significant food shortages and currently about a third of children in the country are malnourished.

Some rainfall was reported on Wednesday but this is not unusual for a country that often veers between droughts and severe floods, according to BBC Weather's Phil Avery.

Any rainfall now will not make up for the dry weather in the last few months, a period crucial for the country's agrarian economy, and which has already severely hampered preparation for the wheat and rice crops.

The Mei-Yu weather front, which normally moves up from China later on in the summer, may provide more rain - but there is no guarantee that will happen or that it will not cause floods, as it has done in the past.
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Media caption North Korea's closed economy means it is likely to suffer more in the drought, as Steve Evans reports
Analysis by Stephen Evans, Korea correspondent Seoul

It is unusual for North Korea to talk openly of its shortages so the very appearance of the report in state media is significant. It indicates the situation is serious, and it may well indicate that North Korea wants outside help. The report of drought coincides with the release of two South Korean prisoners from North Korean custody, and that may underline the desire of the North to elicit sympathy and more tangible aid.

Polls in South Korea indicate conflicting views - most people support aid to the North but some also question why South Korea should help a country developing nuclear weapons targeted at the very donors of aid. In the last 10 years, the willingness of other countries to aid North Korea has diminished greatly as Pyongyang has developed nuclear weapons. Spending by UN agencies there has fallen from $300m a year in 2004 to the current $50m.

North Korea suffered serious famine in the 1990s. Since then, farmers have been given greater freedom to sell on the market and output has risen. However, no water for rice today means no rice for bowls tomorrow.

North Korea country profile
Spring crop damage

KCNA said rice planting had finished in more than 441,560 hectares of paddy fields "but at least 136,200 hectares of them are parching up".

It said paddy fields in South Hwanghae and North Hwanghae provinces were particularly badly hit, with up to 80% of rice seedlings drying up in some areas.

It said South Phyongan and South Hamgyong were also "badly affected".

"Water levels of reservoirs stand at their lowest, while rivers and streams [are] getting dry," the news agency said.

It added that it was planting other crops in rice paddy fields of drought-stricken areas to "reduce damage".

Denmark's ambassador to North and South Korea, Thomas Lehman, told Reuters that he had visited drought-hit areas in the North in May.

"The lack of water has created a lot of damage to the so-called spring crop, and the rice planting is extremely difficult without sufficient water," he said.

Last year the country saw its lowest rainfall in 30 years.
North Korea's troubles

Average per capita income of $1,000-$2,000 (£640-£1,280) per year, compared to more than $20,000 in South Korea.
Suffered famine from 1995 to 1997 after series of droughts and floods
Almost a third of children under five are stunted by malnutrition, says UN
About 20% of pregnant and breast-feeding women also malnourished
More than two million people receiving help from UN World Food Programme

For this reason, food shortages caused by the current drought are unlikely to be on the same scale, he says.

Other countries, including South Korea, regularly send aid to the North. In April the UN called for $111m (£71m) to fund humanitarian activities in food, nutrition, agriculture and sanitation.

North Korea is heavily sanctioned under UN resolutions for its nuclear and missile tests dating back to 2006.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
The North Koreans must have some secret super-weapon, because I don't see how they can take on both South Korea and the US.
He's not planning on invading the US, is he?

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
The North Koreans must have some secret super-weapon,

 Swastakowey wrote:
When our Prime Minister says something, it is easily viewable on the news. When Obama says something I can see a video or a written declaration of where he said it.

When Kim says something... I seen news stories claim crap and that's all usually followed by a picture from an archive of kim staring into the distance.

How do we know he made such a statement? Rarely I see actual evidence of North Korea doing anything claimed outside of "North korea does this" Or "North Korea Says This".

I looked through the articles and they all claim it was said, but see nothing to believe he actually said he is preparing for war.

Like a lot of North Korean "News" I am pretty sure it's just click bait.

 Ghazkuul wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
When our Prime Minister says something, it is easily viewable on the news. When Obama says something I can see a video or a written declaration of where he said it.

When Kim says something... I seen news stories claim crap and that's all usually followed by a picture from an archive of kim staring into the distance.

How do we know he made such a statement? Rarely I see actual evidence of North Korea doing anything claimed outside of "North korea does this" Or "North Korea Says This".

I looked through the articles and they all claim it was said, but see nothing to believe he actually said he is preparing for war.

Like a lot of North Korean "News" I am pretty sure it's just click bait.

It's not so much that its "click Bait" but its the fact that North Korea is a totalitarian regime and the only media there is state sponsored. The internet is basically none existent their...as well as electricity.

 Skinnereal wrote:
There's nothing about this on the BBC, which usually has someone out there to report this stuff.
The last mention of war is the movie last year.

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Sounds like they're ramping up sabre-rattling to draw attention away from how fethed their ability to feed the masses is.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:
The North Koreans must have some secret super-weapon, because I don't see how they can take on both South Korea and the US.
He's not planning on invading the US, is he?

If you've been on a gap year then you'll surely have some tales. Be it hitchhiking, couch surfing or general sight seeing.
There are the obvious choices. Peru, Thailand, Australia, interrailing around Europe.
Alessandro Ford picked a gap year involving the world's most secretive and repressed country.
The 18-year-old studied in North Korea and he's thought to be the first westerner to study there.
Alessandro, from Belgium, gave the BBC some highlights from his gap year.

Kim Jong-un
Alessandro didn't get to meet Kim Jong-un, but one of his flatmates did, and it was a pretty big deal.
"At one point I was about four metres from the "Great Leader"… and we made eye contact," he says.
North Korean students
Alessandro lived with North Korean students who, he says, were told to keep an eye on him.
They wouldn't let him leave the university on his own but despite that they still got on.
"We played football together, drank together, ate together. I was on good terms with the people monitoring me so it was an odd relationship."

On the Great Leaders and the cult of personality
One thing Alessandro was very careful not to do was disrespect the Kim family.
They've ruled since 1948 and appear to be worshipped by the North Korean people.
"There were portraits of the two Great Leaders in every room, including mine, and my flatmate had to take them down each morning and polish them.
"One time I was throwing a tennis ball around the room and I threw it a bit too high and it went too close to a portrait of the Great Leader.
"He just grabbed the ball, threw it out the door and said, 'No, you can't do that'."

On Eminem, Linkin Park and Example
Entertainment is strictly state-run in North Korea and foreign products are prohibited.

Alessandro was allowed to share some of his music but his flatmates didn't really like it.
"They thought that someone rapping or singing about their lover, themselves, or their pursuit of money or fame was egotistical, and you should sing about something meaningful.
"They meant singing about the state, their country, or their family."
The news
The news is also run by the state. Alessandro could only find out what was going on in the world through a North Korean lens.
"Everyone in my dormitory seemed to believe the news when it said Ebola had been created by the CIA as a weapon to destroy some unnamed country and the CIA had lost control of it.
"I asked my friends if they believed this and they said, 'Yeah, the news said so, why would the news lie?'"

He says the human rights of North Korean people are abused. He says the rest of the world should still try to communicate with North Korea because isolating them doesn't seem to be working.
"Here in Europe and in the west, our image of North Korea comes through satirical films like Team America or The Interview, and we never really get the other side of the story.
"When we've got this constant barrage of 'North Korea is evil' and then from North Korea we have no information or contact, that makes us see things from a very skewed perspective."

 Necros wrote:
So in other words, "Please pay attention to me or I'll cry."

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Sounds like they're ramping up sabre-rattling to draw attention away from how fethed their ability to feed the masses is.