In a massive show of strength, a group of North Korean soldiers were seen smashing bricks with their heads and lying on glass much to the delight of their supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
A video of the display shows soldiers endure beatings from long poles, smash blocks and wooden planks over their heads, and lie on shards of broken glass.
The dramatic footage looked more like scenes from a martial arts movie, as Kim and other North Korean officials watched and applauded as numerous?soldiers?put on a pain-defying display, Al Jazeera reported.?
The display was part of the opening ceremony for a?defence exhibition this week that showcased the nuclear-armed country¡¯s weapons.??
The soldiers ¨C some in uniform, others topless ¨C punched their way through layers of concrete bricks, or broke them with their heads.??
Others were hammered on their arm or hand, and one lay on a bed of nails to have a block broken on his chest.??
Leader Kim looked on clapping and smiling, surrounded by officers and with his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong at his side, footage on state broadcaster KCTV showed on Tuesday.??
The Korean Central News Agency report that Kim called his military ¡°invincible¡± in a speech where he also accused the United States of being hostile to his nation and ¡°continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and action.¡±
This was the first event that Kim has overseen since he took control of North Korea in 2011. It marked the 76th anniversary of the country¡¯s ruling Worker¡¯s Party.