North Korea says it has fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles into its western waters, in another display of its growing military capabilities.
It comes as US President Donald Trump travels to South Korea for a regional summit.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) described the test on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) as a success and claimed the weapons would contribute to expanding the operational sphere of the country’s nuclear-armed military.
South Korea’s military did not immediately confirm whether it had detected the tests.
The North Korean report came hours before an expected summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.
KCNA said senior military official Pak Jong Chon attended the test during an inspection of training for sailors aboard the country’s newly developed destroyers Choe Hyon and Kang Kon, which Kim Jong Un has described as key assets in his efforts to strengthen the navy.
North Korea’s latest launches followed short-range ballistic missile tests last week that it said involved a new hypersonic system designed to strengthen its nuclear war deterrent.
Trump has expressed interest in meeting with Kim during his stay in South Korea, where he is also scheduled to hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
However, South Korean officials have said a Trump–Kim meeting is unlikely.
Trump has previously referred to Kim as “little rocket man” and the two met three times during the US president’s first term.
North Korea has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019.
Kim’s top foreign policy priority is now Russia.
In recent months, he has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment to help fuel President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, while embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and positions his country as part of a united front against the US-led West.
Last month, Kim reiterated he wouldn’t return to talks with the United States unless Washington drops its demand for North Korea’s denuclearization, after Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for new diplomacy.
