Kim plays more war games: North Korea releases footage of dictator supervising a 'drone drill' attack as 'U.S. deploys an unmanned spy plane to Japan'

As tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang has released footage showing its leader Kim Jong-un supervising a 'drone drill' attack.

The Communist dictator is seen watching a rocket-launched small aircraft blowing up in the sky after being intercepted by anti-aircraft missile - yesterday he was seen brandishing a gun in a video.

The footage broadcast by North Korea's state television comes amid reports the U.S. has deployed an unmanned spy plane to Japan for surveillance following reports the rogue state has moved missile launchers to its east coast.








Pyongyang has released footage showing its leader Kim Jong-un watching a rocket-launched small aircraft blowing up in the sky after being intercepted by anti-aircraft missiles.






Tension: The footage broadcast by North Korea's state television comes amid reports the US has deployed an unmanned spy plane to Japan to boost its surveillance




The Global Hawk will be stationed at the U.S. airbase in Misawa, northern Japan - it was due to be deployed between June and September, but it has now been bought forward according to the Sankei Shimbun.

Yesterday Western nations, including Britain, were deciding whether to pull diplomats out of North Korea after being told that their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond Wednesday.

But today staff appeared to be staying in embassies across the rogue state despite the appeal.


Whitehall has been told it should consider evacuating its embassy in Pyongyang.

Several aid organisations were also given the warning, as the North Koreans moved more mid-range Musudan missiles to their east coast – where they could directly threaten Japan and America’s Pacific bases.

The Foreign Office last night said it had ‘no immediate plans to withdraw’ Britain’s embassy in Pyongyang and condemned ‘provocations’ by the North Korean regime.




Spy plane: A US Global Hawk like the one which has been deployed to Japan amid fears about the intentions of North Korea







But contingency plans have been drawn up to help Britons escape from the Korean peninsula.

Airborne troops are said to have been put on standby to oversee any evacuation of the region.


Officials have stressed the plans are a ‘precaution’ but said the situation is ‘fast-moving’.


Britain has had an embassy in Pyongyang focusing on nuclear counter-proliferation and human rights for more than a decade.


The Foreign Office website says the embassy supports ‘small-scale projects aimed at improving the lives of the most vulnerable’.


There is also a consular section serving the needs of the handful of British citizens working in the Communist dictatorship.

The US does not have an embassy in Pyongyang. Russia said yesterday that it was considering airlifting its workers out of the country and had been in discussions with China – North Korea’s closest ally.




Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted Friday during a visit to Uzbekistan as saying that Russia is in touch with China, the United States, Japan and South Korea - all members of a dormant talks process with North Korea - to try to figure out the motivation.


'We are very perturbed about the supercharged tensions, which for now are verbal. We want to understand the causes of this proposal,' Lavrov said, according to the Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said the Pyongyang regime had responsibilities to protect embassies under international conventions and claimed the latest move was 'part of their continuing rhetoric' that the United States poses a threat.


Tensions: A Chinese tourists leaps from a speed boat that take them on tours along the North Korean bank of the Yalu River near the town of Sinuiji. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the country's military to increase artillery production



South Korean soldiers patrol as vehicles returning from North Korea's inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex back to South Korea arrive at a checkpoint on the Grand Unification Bridge


North Korean officials check the passports of a group of foreign diplomats and tourists as they board an Air Koryo flight to Beijing at the airport in Pyongyang. Foreign diplomats appear to be ignoring a warning to get out