North Korea says it launched cruise missiles in message to ‘enemies’

According to state media, North Korea has tested its strategic cruise missiles in an effort to inform “enemies” about its counterattack capabilities.

Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, presided over the missile tests in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday.

In a later statement, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea confirmed that it had detected and followed the launches.

Pyongyang conducted the drills under the official name KCNA to warn “enemies, who are seriously violating the security environment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment” and to display the “readyness of its various nuclear operation means.”

The missiles precisely “hit the targets” after flying for 130 minutes along a 1, 587km-long (986-mile) trajectory, the KCNA said.

Kim Jong Un expressed satisfaction with the results of the launch drill, calling it “a responsible exercise of the DPRK’s war deterrence to continuously test the reliability and operation of its nuclear deterrence and demonstrate their might,” according to the official mouthpiece.

The drills marked the fourth missile launch of the year so far, and they were the second one since Donald Trump’s January inauguration.

Trump has stated that he intends to contact the North Korean leader during his second term, having held three summits with Kim during his first administration in an unsuccessful effort to achieve Pyongyang’s nuclear disarmament.

In a January interview, Trump claimed to have gotten along with him.