North Korea said Friday it fired four cruise missiles into the Sea of Japan that flew 2,000 kilometers the previous day, according to state-run media, after the United States and South Korea conducted tabletop exercises against Pyongyang's nuclear threat.
The successful launch of the missiles "clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the (North's) nuclear combat force bolstering up in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces," the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The four "Hwasal-2" strategic cruise missiles fired from Kim Chaek city, North Hamgyong Province, at dawn Thursday precisely hit their target after traveling in 2,000-km-long elliptical and figure of eight-shaped flight orbits for more than 2 hours and 50 minutes, KCNA said. The reputed range would cover all of Japan.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday that Japan has not confirmed whether the missiles fell into its territory.
The United States and South Korea conducted a tabletop simulated exercise at the Department of Defense near Washington on Wednesday, with both countries also scheduled to conduct the 11-day Freedom Shield field training exercises in mid-March.
Kwon Jong Gun, head of the U.S. affairs department at the North Korean Foreign Ministry, warned in a statement carried by KCNA that if the United States "persists in its hostile and provocative practices" against Pyongyang, it would be "regarded as a declaration of war" against the North.
Thursday's drill reconfirmed the reliability of the weapon system while demonstrating that the strategic cruise missile units "constitute one of the major forces of the (North's) nuclear deterrent," according to the news agency.
The Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea "expressed great satisfaction" over the results of the drill, KCNA said, without reporting whether leader Kim Jong Un was present at the exercise.
The latest missile launches followed the North's firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile last weekend and two ballistic missiles on Monday.
Pyongyang had warned of more missile launches, with Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister and a close aide of Kim Jong Un, saying in a statement on Monday the country "will take corresponding counteraction" if U.S. actions are "judged to be any direct or indirect threat."
North Korea also criticized on Friday a U.S. move to push forward the adoption of a presidential statement at the U.N. Security Council denouncing Pyongyang's recent ICBM launch, warning of "corresponding strong countermeasures."
As long as the United States seeks to deprive North Korea of the right to self-defense by putting the U.N. council into the limelight, Pyongyang "will never remain a passive onlooker," Kwon warned.
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