North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has defended Thursday’s intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) test, calling it an appropriate military action that shows other countries the North is serious about counteracting threats to its security. 

The state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said Kim made the comments at the launch site, while also accusing the North’s adversaries of having recently escalated regional tensions.

The KCNA released a photo purportedly showing the missile launch.  

According to the report, the North Korean leader called the test an essential step in the process of continually upgrading the country’s strategic offensive capabilities and pledged that the country will not turn back from its policy of building a stronger nuclear arsenal.

The KCNA also quoted a defense ministry spokesman as saying the test, conducted on Kim’s orders, set a record for strategic missile capabilities and demonstrated the modernity and reliability of the North’s world-leading strategic deterrence forces.