North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the country's air force drills and emphasized the need to intensify war preparation, according to state media. 

Kim inspected anti-aircraft combat and air strike drills conducted by North Korea's 1st Air Division on Thursday, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The North Korean leader called for all military units to achieve "a breakthrough in war preparation," according to the outlet.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES SHORT-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES INTO SEA, SOUTH KOREA SAYS

Footage of the drills aired on state TV showed a MiG-29 jet launching a missile that appeared to be a North Korean version of a Russian-developed mid- to long-range air-to-air missile, according to Hong Min, North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

Earlier this month, the North Korean leader supervised a missile test, inspected tank and munitions plants, and made a rare stop at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang to reaffirm the nation's alliance with Moscow. He also oversaw tank firing drills and special operations training.

600 NORTH KOREAN TROOPS KILLED WHILE FIGHTING UKRAINE, SOUTH KOREA SAYS

North Korea also condemned the U.S. State Department for including it on a list of countries that do not fully cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts -- a designation it has received annually since 1997, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. 

"The more the U.S. provokes the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] with unnecessary and inefficient malicious acts, the further it will escalate the irreconcilable hostility between the DPRK and the U.S.," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

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"The DPRK will ... take effective and proper measures to cope with the U.S. hostile provocations in all spheres," the spokesperson continued.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Former President Joe Biden early last year dismissed Special Counsel Robert Hur's report that sparked additional concern about his mental acuity, just months after he was interviewed about his mishandling of classified documents.

Axios on Friday released audio from Biden's October 2023 interviews with Hur. In the recordings, Biden seemed to struggle to remember when his son Beau died, when he left office as vice president, what year President Donald Trump was elected to his first term, or why he had classified documents that should not have been in his possession.

The recordings not only showed Biden's memory lapses, but also slurring his words and muttering when speaking to Hur. Transcripts of the interviews — conducted on Oct. 8 and 9 of 2023 — were released on March 12, 2024.

In February 2024, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy was the first to question Biden about Hur's report on his mental fitness.

BIDEN STRUGGLES WITH WORDS, KEY MEMORIES IN LEAKED AUDIO FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR INTERVIEW

"Something the special counsel said in his report is that one of the reasons you were not charged is because, in his description, you are a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,'" Doocy said to Biden at a press conference on Feb. 8, 2024.

Biden responded: "I'm well-meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing. I've been president and I put this country back on its feet. I don't need his recommendation—"

Doocy then asked Biden how bad his memory was and if he could continue as president.

BIDEN REPEATEDLY SAYS 'I DON'T REMEMBER' REGARDING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS IN NEWLY RELEASED HUR INTERVIEW AUDIO

"My memory is so bad I let you speak," Biden told him.

Hur, who was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Biden's handling of classified documents, said he declined to bring charges against him, in part, because a jury would find him to be a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory," despite the acknowledgment that the documents were "willfully" obtained by Biden during his time as vice president and as a senator.

The special counsel's report, in addition to gaffes seen during Biden's public appearances, amplified pressure from Republicans who said he lacked the mental fitness needed to serve as president.

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Democrats and Biden's White House initially criticized Hur for his report, repeatedly insisting he was "sharp" and that the special counsel was politically motivated.

Later in 2024, amid Biden's re-election campaign, Democrats called on him to drop his candidacy over his performance in the June presidential debate against Trump, citing his age and mental acuity. Biden, now 82, ended his presidential campaign in July but finished his term, and his vice president, Kamala Harris, was defeated by Trump in November's general election.