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North Korea shows off 'war posture' of its nuclear forces

File photo shows North Korea showing off its strategic military assets during a parade in the capital Pyongyang.

North Korea has test-fired four strategic cruise missiles as means of displaying the readiness of the country's nuclear force for taking on "hostile forces."

The Korean People's Army tested the "Hwasal-2" missiles on Thursday from the area of Kim Chaek City, North Hamgyong Province, towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"The drill clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea)'s nuclear combat force, bolstering up in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces," the report added.

The missiles hit a preset target after traveling the "2000-kilometer (1,242.7-mile)-long elliptical and eight-shaped flight orbits for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds," it noted.

The North has been conducting several missile launches throughout the past week, timing them precisely around joint aerial war games involving the United States and South Korea.

The exercises were held on Sunday witnessing South Korea's F-35A, F-15K and US F-16 warplanes escorting American B-1B bombers.

Right before the drills, North Korea confirmed that it had carried out a "sudden intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch in order to test its missile force's combat readiness for counterattack."

And on Monday, the North said it had fired at least two ballistic missiles, while Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that Pyongyang might step up its military activities in response to increased presence of US' strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula.

"We are carefully examining the influence it would exert on the security of our state," she said, adding, "The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces' action character."


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