Anchor: Pyongyang has made fresh claims that it test-fired four strategic cruise missiles early Thursday, in apparent retaliation against Seoul and Washington's table-top exercise on the regime's nuclear and missile threats the day before. Military authorities in Seoul are verifying the latest announcement as the firings were not detected by the allies' surveillance systems.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: North Korea announced on Friday that it test-fired four "Hwasal-Two" strategic cruise missiles into the East Sea from the city of Kim Chaek in North Hamgyong Province early Thursday.

While Seoul and Washington's surveillance assets reportedly did not detect the missile firings, South Korean military authorities are in the process of verifying the announcement and looking into all other possibilities.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said the four Hwasal Two missiles precisely hit the target after traveling the two-thousand kilometer-long elliptical and figure-eight-shaped flight orbits for a duration of between ten-thousand-208 and ten-thousand-224 seconds. Hwasal is a Korean word for arrow.

The regime’s official mouthpiece said a firepower sub-unit under the military's eastern strategic cruise missile unit was mobilized for the test, and claimed it verified swift readiness of the missile units that are a core part of the regime's nuclear deterrence.

It said the drill demonstrated the war posture of the North's nuclear combat force, which is bolstering its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against hostile forces in every way.

The firings were carried out in apparent retaliation against Seoul and Washington's eighth Deterrence Strategy Committee Table-Top Exercise(TTX) on North Korea's nuclear threats at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

During the exercise, the allies held in-depth discussions on various approaches to their deterrence and response posture in the face of the North's evolving nuclear and missile capabilities.

In a separate statement on Friday issued by a senior official at the North's foreign ministry, Pyongyang warned that Washington's incessant hostilities and provocative practices could be construed as a declaration of war.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.