Seoul [South Korea], February 28 : North Korea has launched strategic cruise missiles in waters off its west coast to demonstrate the potential of its nuclear deterrence, local media reported adding that its leader Kim Jong-un has called for thorough war preparedness with the country's nuclear forces and readiness for their use.
Kim oversaw the missile launch and called for permanently defending the country's sovereign right and security with the "reliable nuclear shield," Seoul's Yonhap cited the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
South Korea's military confirmed the missile firing, noting it had detected the launches of multiple cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea at about 8 am on Wednesday, and they were being analyzed by South Korean and US intelligence authorities, Yonhap reported.
As per the KCNA the goal of the exercise was to demonstrate the Korean army's "counterattack capability in any space" and "the readiness of its various nuke operation means" to "the enemies, who are seriously violating the security environment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment."
"What is guaranteed by powerful striking ability is the most perfect deterrence and defense capacity," Kim said, stressing North Korea should strive for "more thorough battle readiness of nuclear force and full preparedness for their use," Kim was cited as saying.
The missiles "precisely hit the targets after making a flight along 1,587 km-long oval trajectory for 7,961-7,973 seconds."
The development comes ahead of 'Freedom Shield' a major military exercise between South Korea and the United States that is set to begin in March.
Earlier this month Kim Jong-un blamed the United States, Japan and South Korea for escalating tensions in the region, saying the allies' military cooperation has destabilized the security environment of the nuclear-armed country.
US nuclear strategic assets deployed on the Korean Peninsula, the US-led nuclear war simulation exercises and the US-Japan-South Korea military cooperation are "inviting military imbalance" on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia, causing "a new conflicting structure" and posing a grave challenge to North Korea, Kim was quoted as saying Kim was quoted as saying during his visit to North Korea's Ministry of National Defence.
After White House released a statement saying that Washington will seek "complete denuclearization of North Korea," under President Donald Trump, North Korea said that its nuclear weapons are not a "bargaining chip" but designed for combat use against any attempts by its enemies to invade the North, reaffirming its stance to further develop its nuclear arsenal.