PYONGYANG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has called on the country's air force to be ready to strike aircraft carriers, the official media reported Monday.

While guiding the combat flight contest among commanding officers of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force-2017, Kim said that "fighter pilots successfully performed diverse artistry flights, their flights were wonderful and they fully showed scientific flying and perfect aviation," said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The contest was aimed at "training all the flight commanding officers to be a-match-for-a-hundred fighters capable of destroying any targets including enemy aircraft carriers ... and encouraging all the army to be combat-ready for national reunification," said the KCNA.

The contest was held separately among a group of division or brigade commanders, a group of commanders of pursuit fighters, bomber and raider regiments, a group of commanders of light transport planes, helicopter and education aircraft regiments and a group of young graduates of pilot-training institutions, the KCNA reported without specifying the date of the event.

The contest took place while the United States is holding extended naval exercises with South Korea off the South Korean coast with aircraft carrier Carl Vinson participating in them.