North Korean soldiers lie on broken glass, smash bricks in combat display as Kim Jong Un looks on

The display was part of the opening ceremony for a defence exhibition week in North Korea.

In a video that has gone viral, North Korean soldiers were seen smashing bricks with their heads, lying on glass and other extreme forms of combat display as Kim Jong-un watched them with a wide smile on his face.

The video was aired by the country's state-run television station KRT and has since gone viral on social media. The soldiers were seen performing multiple shows of strength smashing items, breaking free from chains, laying on glass and throwing knives.

Kim Jong Un was seen looking at the extreme martial arts demonstration at a defence exhibition in Pyongyang on October 11. The event was organised to mark the 76th founding anniversary of North Korea's ruling party. The supreme leader watched the show from the stands while sitting next to his sister Kim Yo Jong and senior North Korean military officials.

One part of the segment shows a soldier lying on a bed of nails while balancing a thick concrete block on his chest. A few seconds later, another soldier smashes the block with a hammer.

Kim said North Korea's weapons development is necessary in the face of hostile policies from the United States and a military build-up south of the border, state media reported. Pyongyang was only increasing its military in self-defence and not to start a war, Kim said in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition, Kim was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA.