SEOUL: North Korea test-launched hypersonic missiles in Pyongyang the previous day that successfully struck targets in the East Sea, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, state media reported on Monday.
"A sub-unit under a major firing strike group of the Korean People's Army conducted a missile launching drill" to evaluate the country's war deterrence and the readiness of the weapon system, as well as to verify its capacity to fulfill missions, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
South Korea's military detected the missile launch at 7:50 a.m. Sunday, hours before President Lee Jae Myung departed for Beijing for summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and after the United States announced the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale military strike.
"Through today's launching drill, we can confirm that a very important technology task for national defense has been carried out. The missile soldiers showed the readiness of the DPRK's nuclear forces without regret and gave confidence in it, " the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
DPRK refers to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
Kim said his country has put its nuclear forces "on a practical basis" and prepared them for "an actual war, " urging that the country must "continuously upgrade the military means, especially offensive weapon systems" and calling the efforts "an essential undertaking for self-defence."
"To be honest, our such activity is clearly aimed at gradually putting the nuclear war deterrent on a high-developed basis. Why it is necessary is exemplified by the recent geopolitical crisis and complicated international events, " Kim was quoted as saying in the KCNA report.
The KCNA said the hypersonic missiles hit targets 1, 000 kilometers away in the East Sea after being launched from Pyongyang's Ryokpho District.