Pyongyang has said the launch drill is a warning to "enemies" who are violating the country's security

North Korea has test-fired strategic cruise missiles to demonstrate its nuclear "counterattack" capability, the country's state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

The missiles covered a distance of 1,587 km in an oval trajectory, taking about 2.2 hours to reach their targets, according to KCNA. This marked the fourth missile launch of the year and the second since US President Donald Trump took office.

The test was designed 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 demonstrate "readiness of its various nuke operation means," KCNA said.

Photos released by the news agency show the launch of a cruise missile over the West Sea of Korea, striking and destroying its target while North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the test.

According to the report, Kim expressed satisfaction with the drill and emphasized that the military must maintain full readiness to deploy its nuclear weapons.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed tracking the test and affirmed their readiness to counter any "provocation" with the support of the US.

In December, Kim pledged to boost the country's defenses and "aggressively" pursue the "toughest anti-US counteraction" for Pyongyang's long-term security, describing the US as "the most reactionary state."

The North Korean leader has branded the US alliance with Japan and South Korea as "a nuclear military bloc for aggression," and called South Korea "an out-and-out anti-communist outpost of the US."

In January, North Korea successfully tested a new hypersonic missile. Kim stated that the development of the new missile system was aimed at "putting the country's nuclear war deterrent on an advanced basis."

The US and South Korea have expanded the scale and frequency of their military exercises in recent years. In response, Pyongyang has intensified its missile testing program, launching more than 100 ballistic and cruise missiles since 2022.

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