North Korea says it has performed missile tests

North Korea said on Friday it had test-fired strategic cruise missiles to demonstrate its nuclear counter-attack capability.

The move came days after it vowed to respond to what it called escalating US-led hostilities since the start of the Trump administration.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the missile tests off the country’s west coast on Wednesday.

They were the North’s fourth missile launch event this year and the second of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The launches were designed to inform “the enemies, who are seriously violating our security environment and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment,” of the North Korean military’s counterattack capability and the readiness of its nuclear operations, KCNA said.

Mr Kim expressed satisfaction over the results of the drills and said the military must be battle-ready and prepared to use its nuclear weapons, the report said.

Mr Trump has said he would reach out to Mr Kim again after they met at three summits in his first term.

North Korea has not directly responded to Mr Trump’s overture as it continues its typically aggressive rhetoric against the US and weapons testing activities.

Many experts say that Mr Kim, now preoccupied with his support of Russia’s war against Ukraine, would not likely embrace Mr Trump’s outreach anytime soon.

They say Mr Kim could reconsider if he doubts he will maintain North Korea’s current solid co-operation with Russia after the war ends.

Last Saturday, North Korea’s Defence Ministry alleged the US and its allies were ramping up more serious military provocations targeting North Korea since Mr Trump took power.

It cited the recent US-South Korean aerial exercise involving a US B-1B bomber and other reported activities involving US military assets.

A Defence Ministry statement said North Korea will counter the strategic threat of the US with strategic means.

Mr Kim and Mr Trump met three times from 2018-19 to discuss the fate of North Korea’s nuclear program, but their diplomacy derailed due to disputes over US-led sanctions on the North.

Mr Kim has since sharply increased the pace of weapons tests to expand and modernise his nuclear and missile arsenals.