North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was spotted fielding an assault rife while inspecting troops.
It comes as Kim Jong Un has ordered heightened readiness for war at a major military operations base in the western region of the country.
It comes after the start of annual combined military drills by US and South Korean forces on Monday in the South with twice the number of troops taking part compared to last year.
Kim said the military must "dynamically usher in a new heyday of intensifying the war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation" according to state broadcaster KCNA.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country
Reuters
He said: "Our army should ... steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness."
The state broadcaster did not mention whether Kim directly referred to the drills by the US and South Korean military. He inspected troops conducting actual manoeuvres under conditions simulating actual war, KCNA said.
An unnamed spokesperson of Pyongyang's defence ministry said it strongly denounces what it called "frantic, reckless" military drills, urging them to stop.
The exercises can never be defensive but are an attempt to invade the North, the spokesperson said, pointing to their increased scale and the participation of 11 member countries of the United Nations Command.
They added: "A nuclear war may be ignited even with a spark."
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Kim said North Korea should: "steadily intensify the actual war drills"
Reuters
Meanwhile, US-based rights activists said North Korea's border closings and other anti-pandemic measures were "overbroad, excessive, and unnecessary" and severely affected food security and the availability of essential products.
Some of the restrictions remain, and Pyongyang has only recently allowed more access to foreign diplomats and increased trade with Russia and China.
A report by Human Rights Watch said: "The government has sought to reimpose its control in areas in which its dominance had weakened over the past two and half decades: in particular, control over the border, market activity, unsanctioned travel, and access to information."
North Korea has not commented on the border restrictions but has asserted that it looks after the needs of its people while acknowledging some food shortages and arguing that international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons program have caused hardships.
Kim Jong Un
Reuters
Human Rights Watch closely examined several of those areas with new border walls and confirmed that the construction of new watchtowers and other facilities went far beyond pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, border guard posts largely existed only in urban areas, and watchtowers were built every 1 to 3 kilometres on average, the report said.
The HRW analysis found that by early 2023, authorities had built on average one guard post, watchtower, or garrison for every 110 meters of fence line on the border in the areas analysed.
