North Korea is getting ready for "serious conflict"

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered a "powerful volley" of artillery fire in response to US and South Korean war games on the Korean Peninsula. Kim monitored an artillery exercise on North Korea's west coast on Thursday evening, which simulated an attack on an enemy airfield. Kim praised his troops for being "prepared for real combat" and declared that they should be "ready to fight at any time and be prepared for real actions rather than words." The exercise also involved "multiple rounds" of short-range ballistic missiles. Kim's statement is typical of those made by Pyongyang during periods of heightened US/South Korean military activity. The US and South Korea held aerial drills on Monday and the previous Friday, both of which involved US nuclear-capable bombers.

The two countries will hold an exercise next week simulating a North Korean missile attack, and on Monday will kick off the largest joint drills in the area for five years. The North Korean Foreign Ministry condemned the aerial drills in a statement on Tuesday, claiming that the risk of nuclear war is shifting from an imaginary state to a realistic one. Kim's sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned that any attempts by the US or Japan to interfere with North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests over the Pacific Ocean would be treated as a "declaration of war."