North Korea test fires four cruise missiles to demonstrate ‘nuclear combat force,’ state media claims

North Korea test fired strategic cruise missiles off its eastern coast on Friday to demonstrate the “war posture of the DPRK nuclear combat force,” state media outlet Korean Central News Agency said. 

Four Hwasal-2 missiles were fired from Kim Chaek City and traveled about 1,240 miles before landing in the sea, the state media outlet said. 

The launches came as the U.S. and South Korean defense officials held a Deterrence Strategy Committee Table-Top Exercise (DSC TTX) at the Pentagon. 

“Given the DPRK’s recent aggressive nuclear policy and advancements in nuclear capabilities, the TTX scenario focused on the possibility of the DPRK’s use of nuclear weapons,” the Pentagon said Thursday. 

“The U.S. and ROK delegations focused their discussion on Alliance deterrence to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and potential options for responding to DPRK nuclear weapons use.”

SOUTH KOREA REFERS TO NORTH AS ‘OUR ENEMY’ FOR FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS AS TENSIONS HEIGHTEN

On Sunday, the U.S. held joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan, eliciting criticism from North Korea. American B-1B bombers were escorted by South Korean fighter jets near the Korean peninsula in that drill. 

A day before that, North Korea launched a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, with Kim Jong Un’s sister saying that they were “using the Pacific” as their “firing range.”