NORTH KOREA TESTS ANTI-SHIP MISSILE
North Korea said Friday it has tested a new type of cruise missile that could strike U.S. and South Korean warships "at will" if it is attacked, in an apparent reference to the projectiles detected by Seoul when they were launched a day earlier.
The missiles represent the fourth new missile system North Korea said it has introduced and successfully tested this year, sending a defiant message that it will continue to pursue a weapons program that has rattled its neighbors and Washington.
"This new-type cruise rocket is a powerful attack means capable of striking any enemy group of battleships" attempting to attack North Korea and can be used "at will," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.
It said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launches and that the missiles "accurately detected and hit" floating targets at sea after making "circular flights."
The North's claims cannot be independently confirmed.
According to South Korea's military, North Korea fired several projectiles off its east coast on Thursday morning and they flew about 200 kilometers before splashing down between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launch came days after U.S. aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan left those waters after joint exercises with the South Korean navy.
The North's missile tests present a difficult challenge to new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has expressed a desire to reach out to the North.
North Korea's weapons tests are meant to build a nuclear and missile program that can stand up to what it sees as U.S. and South Korean hostility.
Moon has sought to expand cross-border civilian exchanges as a way to improve ties, but North Korea on Monday rejected a Seoul civic group's offer to provide anti-malaria supplies to protest South Korea's support of fresh U.N. sanctions adopted last week.
Moon said his government "won't back off even a single step and make any compromise" on the issue of national security. He also warned that North Korea could only face further international isolation and more economic difficulties.
Last month, North Korea premiered a new midrange missile that outside experts said flew higher than any other missile previously tested by North Korea.