North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has watched aerial maneuvers conducted by the North's Air Force, North Korea's state media reported Sunday, in an apparent show of force amid tensions with the outside world over its nuclear and missile programs.

"Actual maneuvers for attack and defense between large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) were staged in three directions at the same time," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported in an English dispatch, adding Kim guided these maneuvers.

They were aimed at boosting operational readiness to defend Pyongyang from attacks, the KCNA said.

In another dispatch the same day, the state media said Kim observed a flight drill by the KPA Air and Anti-Air Force at an unspecified date.

Kim called fighter pilots to an airfield without prior notice and tested their skills on the spot.

He was quoted as saying, "As I have stressed whenever I see a drill of fighter pilots, the defense of the country's territorial air is not tied to the weather and time, and a modern warfare is to be conducted in the worst condition."

The media did not disclose when the drills were conducted, but they likely occurred Saturday, as the agency tends to report on the previous day's news.

Tensions have soared on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks over North Korea's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.

South Korea has joined the United States and other regional powers in pushing for tightened U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its latest provocations. (Yonhap)