North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided a night jump exercise of the country's airborne units, Pyongyang's state news agency said Monday, amid tensions over upcoming joint military drills between South Korea and the U.S.

The paratroopers showed Kim their "admirable actions of accurately landing on the designated points," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said early Monday.

Kim highly praised the combatants and airmen for successfully performing their duties as he underscored the need for the military to "put spurs to rounding off the combat preparedness."

It is not unusual for Kim to inspect military units, but the latest one came after the North proposed halting all slander and all hostile military actions between the two Koreas.

The North's recent overture is widely seen as its attempt to get South Korea to cancel joint military exercises with the United States.

Last week, Seoul and Washington said they will go ahead with the drills scheduled to run from late February through April.

The North claims the military exercises could be a rehearsal for a nuclear war against it. Seoul and Washington have said the routine drills are defensive in nature. (Yonhap News)