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North Korea has increasingly been flexing its military muscles recently – and these lads are taking it quite literally.
Incredible footage has surfaced of ripped soldiers punching through bricks with their bare hands to the delight of Kim Jong Un.
The portly despot watched on giddily as troops put on a display taken straight out of a Bruce Lee movie.
A shirtless soldier kicked off proceedings with a kung fu display, before enduring a beating administered by comrades armed with wooden planks.
The topless troupe then demonstrated increasingly inventive ways to ruin flagstones, including getting a colleague to drive your arm through it with a sledgehammer.
In a possible nod to the state’s Marxist origins, one soldier cast off some chains – literally, with his biceps – before lying on broken glass (which we don’t think was in Das Kapital).
Other feats clapped on by military and party leaders included a soldier having a breeze block cracked apart on his abdomen while lying on a bed of nails.
In another display which probably has limited real world military applications, two soldiers bent a thick metal rod in half by pushing on either end with their throats.
The defence exhibition was broadcast on state TV and North Koreans were reportedly told the soldiers had ‘iron fists to protect the peace of the country’.
The performance looked like it may have been inspired by martial arts movies or Hollywood action blockbusters – and that may not be as far-fetched as it sounds.
Former dictator Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korean leader, was apparently a film aficionado and had a collection of 20,000 videos.
He reportedly had a particular fondness for James Bond movies, so it isn’t out of the question his son’s military strategy could have been influenced at an early age by silver screen fight scenes.
The reclusive dictator recently vowed to build an ‘invincible’ military to repel what he described as US attempts to create instability in the region.
A military parade earlier this week featured an array of newly developed weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles.
There are reports Kim’s position is under pressure as the country battles mounting social and economic problems, as well as Covid-19.
North Korea’s state media said the country’s leader Kim Jong Un has urged officials to overcome the ‘grim situation’ facing the country and make stronger efforts to improve the food and living conditions of his people.
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