Monday 27 / January / 2025
Pyongyang: North Korea carried out a strategic cruise missile test, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) reported on Sunday.
The country's leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test, according to the report. North Korea's war deterrence means were being "perfected more thoroughly," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
The sea-to-surface strategic guided cruise missiles traveled 1,500 kilometers (around 932 miles), KCNA said.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement North Korea had fired "several" cruise missiles from an inland area toward waters off its west coast at around 4 p.m. local time (0700 UTC/GMT) on Saturday.
It said Seoul is prepared to "overwhelmingly" counter any provocations by Pyongyang together with its military alliance with the US.
The missile test was Pyongyang's first since US President Donald Trump kicked off his second term on Monday.
In an interview aired Thursday, Trump said he plans to restore relations with Kim, calling the North Korean leader a "smart guy." During Trump's first term in office, the two met on three occasions.
Meanwhile, in a separate KCNA report on Sunday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry condemned Washington and Seoul for conducting joint military drills in recent days.
The statement said North Korea "should counter the US with the toughest counteraction" as long as Washington denies Pyongyang's "sovereignty and security interests."
Joint military exercises between the US and South Korea regularly prompt angry reactions from the North, which accuses Washington and Seoul of practicing for an invasion.
