North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the test-firing of a long-range surface-to-air missile on Wednesday at a launch site near the country’s east coast, state media outlet KCNA reported.
According to KCNA, the test was conducted to evaluate North Korea’s strategic technology for developing a new type of high-altitude missile. The missile successfully destroyed aerial targets from a distance of 200 kilometers.
Kim also inspected construction work at a separate site on an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine designed to launch surface-to-air missiles, the report said. KCNA did not specify where or when the visit took place.
Kim was quoted as stating that the “all-out development of nuclear capabilities and modernization of the Navy are essential and inevitable,” adding that “the present world is by no means peaceful.”
Referring to South Korea’s plans to develop a nuclear submarine in cooperation with the United States, Kim said the move would “further inflame tensions on the Korean Peninsula” and pose a security threat that “requires him to take action.”
North Korea has upped its rhetoric over the past two years and staged dozens of launches of missiles.
In October, North Korea test-fired sea-to-surface cruise missiles off its western coast, a week after it launched a hypersonic missile.
Kim has maintained a confrontational stance against the United States and South Korea since the conclusion of President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Trump has expressed interest in meeting Kim, something he did three times during his first presidency from 2017 to 2021. Despite the historic meetings, their diplomacy yielded no tangible results.
Kim recently stated that he has “good memories” of Trump, but also declared that his nation will "never lay down our nuclear weapons".