00:00North Korea has marked the 80th anniversary of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force
00:23with one of its most ominous displays in years. On Friday, Kim Jong-un presided over a massive ceremony
00:32at the new Kalma Airfield on the East Coast. Alongside his young daughter, Joo-ae, he watched
00:40fighter jets rode overhead, inspected rows of attack drones, and presented his Air Force with the regime's
00:47highest honor. But the show of pride quickly shifted into a warning. In his speech, Kim announced
00:54that the Air Force will soon receive brand new strategic military assets and take on a new
01:00important mission tied directly to North Korea's nuclear deterrent. State media later emphasized
01:08that this mission includes crushing any military provocations or espionage acts by enemies, almost
01:15the same language Pyongyang used after South Korean drones flew over the capital last month.
01:22Kim is making his intentions clear. He's reopening the feud with Seoul. After tearing up most inter-Korean
01:30agreements last year and demolishing parts of the cross-border roads in October, he's now
01:35signaling that the next flashpoint will be in the skies and that any escalation could turn
01:41nuclear from the very start. At the same time, Kim is keeping his focus on the United States.
01:51Those strategic assets are widely expected to include air-launched nuclear-capable missiles
01:57and long-range cruise missiles designed to threaten American bases in Guam and Japan. And according
02:04to Washington's latest intelligence assessment, North Korea now wants its Air Force to serve
02:10as a second, more flexible leg of its nuclear triad, alongside land-based missiles and submarine-launched
02:18weapons. But here's what alarms military planners most. If a full-scale war breaks out,
02:24Russia is now obligated by treaty to help North Korea. The June 2024 mutual defense pact signed in Pyongyang
02:36requires immediate military assistance in the event of an armed attack. With thousands of North Korean
02:43troops already fighting alongside Russian forces in Kursk, Moscow has every reason to return the favor,
02:50possibly by supplying advanced air defense systems, satellite intelligence, or even spare parts to keep
02:58Kim's aging jets in the air. So yes, North Korea's Air Force is still far behind its rivals in technology,
03:06but Kim is rapidly turning it into a hardened deterrent. New attack drones rolling off assembly lines,
03:13nuclear weapons small enough for tactical aircraft, and a message aimed at the world that any attempt to
03:20neutralize his missile force from the sky will trigger an immediate nuclear response. Tonight,
03:27the Korean peninsula may seem calm, but the airspace above it has never been more dangerous.
03:41The Korean peninsula may have been more dangerous.
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