SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected two military units, the country's state news media reported Tuesday, as the South is gearing up for its annual joint military exercise with the U.S.

   "Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong-un inspected a sub-unit under KPA Unit 552," the (North) Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language dispatch.

   The North's media later reported Kim had also visited a second unit.

   The latest inspection visits, which came about two months after a similar military inspection by Kim in late May, have likely been made in response to the South and U.S. forces' annual Ulji Freedom Guardian drill scheduled from Aug. 20 through Aug. 31.

   North Korea has long balked at these joint maneuvers, claiming they amount to a rehearsal for the invasion of the communist nation. Seoul and Washington have countered that the drill mobilizing some 56,000 South Korean troops and about 30,000 U.S. soldiers is for defense purposes.

   During the undated inspections, Kim underlined the units' war preparedness as well as the ideological education of soldiers, the KCNA said.

   "He gave them a pair of binoculars and an automatic rifle as gifts ... expressing expectation and belief that they would defend the very dear socialist country as firm as an iron wall," the KCNA noted in an English-language dispatch.

   During the visits, accompanied by a string of ranking military and party officials, Kim also stressed the need to "pay primary attention to politico-ideological education" of soldiers, the KCNA said.

   In its recent reports, the KCNA has repeatedly denounced the South Korea-U.S. military drill as "an all-out war rehearsal."

   sam@yna.co.kr
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