AKIPRESS.COM - North Korea has held a strategic cruise missile launching drill in the Yellow Sea on Feb. 26 to demonstrate the potential of its nuclear deterrence, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

According to the report, the goal of the exercise was to demonstrate the Korean army’s "counterattack capability in any space" and "the readiness of its various nuke operation means" to "the enemies, who are seriously violating the security environment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment."

With this launch, Pyongyang demonstrated "the reliability of the state nuclear deterrence" and showed that its "strategic cruise missile sub-units get adept in fulfilling their sudden firing mission."

The launch took place in the Yellow Sea. According to KCNA, the missiles "precisely hit the targets after making a flight along 1,587 km-long oval trajectory for 7,961-7,973 seconds."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launching drill and expressed satisfaction over the result.

He stressed that it was the responsible mission and duty of the DPRK's nuclear armed forces to permanently defend the national sovereignty and security with the "reliable nuclear shield" by getting more thorough battle readiness of nuclear force and full preparedness for their use.