Sharjah24 – AFP: Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of two long-range cruise missiles, state media said Thursday, adding that the weapons had already been deployed to "tactical nuke" units of the North Korean army.
Kim has overseen a blitz of ballistic missile launches in recent weeks, which Pyongyang has described as tactical nuclear drills that simulated taking out airports and military facilities across South Korea.
The Wednesday test of the two cruise missiles aimed at "enhancing the combat efficiency" of the weapons, which were "deployed at the units of the Korean People's Army for the operation of tactical nukes," KCNA reported.
The cruise missiles -- which travel at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept -- flew 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) over the sea before hitting their targets, the Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim expressed "great satisfaction" with the tests, which he said showed the country's nuclear combat forces were at "full preparedness for actual war" and sent a "clear warning to the enemies," KCNA said.
With talks long stalled, and Ukraine-linked gridlock at the United Nations stymying the chance of fresh sanctions, Kim has doubled down on developing and testing his banned nuclear arsenal.
Officials in Seoul and Washington have been warning for months that Pyongyang is ready to conduct another nuclear test -- which would be the country's seventh.
Kim said North Korea will "focus all efforts on the endless and accelerating development of the national nuclear combat armed forces," KCNA reported Thursday.
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