North Korea's missile launches in recent weeks were tests of tactical nuclear weapons and the ability to "hit and destroy" potential South Korean and American targets, the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported today, stating that the simulations of tactical nuclear attacks were personally supervised by state leader Kim Jong Un.
"The units of the Korean People's Army in charge of using tactical nuclear weapons held military exercises from September 25 to October 9 to test the country's nuclear deterrence and counterattack capabilities," KCNA said.
The agency announced that these tests were a response to the recent joint US-South Korean maneuvers in the region, assessing that such behavior by the US and South Korea further exacerbates tensions in the region and at the same time represents an open military threat" to North Korea.
North Korea considers joint US-South Korean drills a potential threat and an exercise for invasion, although the US and South Korea have repeatedly stated that they are defensive in nature.
North Korea has fired seven missiles in the past two weeks, which was a "simulation of a real war," KCNA added.
"Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the Central Military Commission, directed the military exercises," the state news agency said.
At a time when talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament have long stalled, Pyongyang has increased the number of weapons tests since the beginning of the year. North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan last Sunday, for the first time in five years.
Many experts estimate that North Korea is completing preparations for a new nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first since 2017.
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