Kim Jong Un seems to have a favourite outfit to wear when testing weapons.
With a khaki cap on his head, the North Korean dictator could have been mistaken for a miniature model fan playing with a tabletop train set on Saturday.
That is until you realise the grin across his face came from the explosion of a ‘suicide drone’ crashing into a seemingly South Korea-inspired target.
It’s not the first time Kim Jong Un has been spotted in this fit while getting a taste of his country’s firepower.
He previously wore the white shirt and khaki cap combo when he fired a sniper rifle during a weapons factory tour around this time last year.
Most of his companions on latest outing also wore white shirts, but Kim Jong Un remained the only one hatted and seated for a test of drones that his rivals in South Korea claim were provided with the help of Russia.
Central to the test was the explosive punch of a drone with an X-shaped tail and wings, which Kim Jong Un watched swoop in for the kill.
While most drones fire missiles from a distance, this one exploded on impact with a target resembling South Korea’s main K-2 battle tanks.
Both countries, which claim each other’s land, never agreed a peace treaty after the Korean War ended in 1953, despite a ceasefire.
Their border remains highly militarised, North Korea likes to flex its missile muscles and nuclear ambitions as tensions continue.
Lately, however, it’s preferred to drop balloons of poo, cigarette butts, toilet paper and other rubbish on its southern neighbour, sending 1,000 in a single week this summer.
A group of North Korean defectors in South Korea responded by launching 10 large balloons filled with pamphlets against Kim Jong Un, flash drives loaded with K-Pop and US dollar bills.
Their relationship is far from comic though.
After watching a test involving various drone types designed to strike targets on land and sea, Kim John Un pledged to arm his country with advanced drones ‘as early as possible’.
He wants spy drones, drones able to attack underwater, and drones that explode on impact, the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency reported.
Lee Chang Hyun, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, believes Russia has helped North Korea boost its drone capabilities.
North Korea’s drone trials came just as the South Korean military carries out large scale drills with its ally the US, also a rival of Russia.
These Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, designed to prepare for possible war with North Korea, continue until Thursday.
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