N. Korea’s Kim calls for readiness to smash US-led invasion plot, as US trains with South and Japan

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has called for his military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart plots to invade his country, as the U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral naval exercise to deal with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats. The report said Kim made the remarks in a speech marking Navy Day on Monday. Kim cited the U.S. drills with its allies, the deployment of more powerful U.S. weapons assets near the Korean Peninsula, and a U.S.-South Korean-Japanese summit where an agreement to boost defense cooperation was reached to counter North Korea’s nuclear program.