--- title: "This video shows a bizarre part of North Korean fighter pilot training" description: "The video, from North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, shows pilots training with cardboard cutouts of their cockpits. Watch on WATM!" date: "2021-02-22" modified: "2021-02-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/watch/this-video-shows-a-bizarre-part-north-korean-fighter-pilot-training/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Military News" - "Tactical" tags: - "North Korea" --- # This video shows a bizarre part of North Korean fighter pilot training ![]() The 24-hour Korean-language YTN News Network based in Seoul, South Korea broadcasted video of North Korean dictator and alleged Swiss chocolate enthusiast Kim Jong Un looking at the "unusual" fighter training methods of the North Korean Air Force. --- The video, from North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, the media mouthpiece of the regime, shows pilots using what looks like cardboard cutouts of their cockpits along with toy fighter models, walking over a large map of the country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnpqAY6fAJY The training is purportedly for what the pilots should do in a low fuel situation, which probably happens a lot in the North. Kim is not only watching the pilots train. It's customary for the dictator, like his father Kim Jong-Il, and grandfather Kim Il-Sung before him, to administer "on the spot guidance." The dictators conduct what are known as business inspections. They visit critical areas of the North Korean defense, industrial, and agricultural centers, and offer advice on how to better perform their job functions. ![]() This is why so many photos of the leaders include them standing around talking while any number of aides are standing around taking notes. Accompanying military officers and leaders of the local area are expected to take meticulous notes of everything the leader says. When the guidance is given, it is usually memorialized with a plaque, including a quote from the leader's advice. ![]() *Kim Jong-il visited the Songjin Iron and Steel Complex in the city of Kim Chaek, making that day either the best or worst of that factory worker's life.* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()