Eva Deschamps / October 13, 2022
North Korea has tested two long-range strategic cruise missiles, with leader Kim Jong Un hailing another successful demonstration of the country's tactical nuclear strike capability, the KCNA news agency reported Thursday.
The latest test is part of a record series of weapons tests this year that have heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and heightened fears that Pyongyang could conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally supervised Wednesday's missile launches, which traveled 2,000 kilometers over the sea, KCNA noted. It added that the projectiles hit their intended targets, without giving further details.
Kim Jong Un expressed "great satisfaction" with the tests, which were aimed at enhancing the combat effectiveness of missiles "deployed in the Korean People's Army units for the operation of tactical nuclear weapons," KCNA reported.
Pyongyang said this week that its recent missile tests were "tactical nuclear" exercises aimed at simulating a strike on the South.
Kim "highly appreciated the high reaction capabilities of our nuclear fighting forces," the agency reported.