Pyongyang says its recent tests were ‘tactical nuclear’ exercises

The missile launches carried out by North Korea in recent weeks were “tactical nuclear” simulations, and were personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said on Monday.

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“Korean People’s Army (KPA) units responsible for the use of tactical nuclear weapons held military exercises from September 25 to October 9 to test and evaluate the nuclear deterrence and counterattack capability of the country,” KCNA wrote.

The agency justified these exercises by the joint American-South Korean military maneuvers in the region, “an unfortunate attitude which further aggravates tension in the region while openly constituting a military threat” for North Korea, according to it.

The seven missile launches carried out by North Korea in the past two weeks were exercises “simulating real warfare”, KCNA added.

“Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of its Central Military Commission, led the military drills there,” the state agency said.

While talks on the disarmament of North Korea have long been deadlocked, Pyongyang has stepped up its arms tests since the beginning of the year. In particular, it fired a ballistic missile over Japan last week, the first in five years.

Many experts and officials also believe that North Korea has completed preparations for a new nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first since 2017.