Overview
- State media said two long-range strategic cruise missiles were launched over the Yellow Sea on Sunday, flying for more than two hours and striking a target in a drill to check counter‑offensive readiness.
- South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected multiple launches around 8 a.m. from the Sunan area near Pyongyang and said allied forces remain on alert for further tests.
- Kim Jong Un called the exercise a responsible check of the nuclear deterrent and pledged the “unlimited and sustained” development of the state’s nuclear combat force.
- The launches followed the release of images showing an 8,700‑ton submarine under construction that North Korea describes as nuclear‑powered, a claim not independently verified for reactor or combat-system functionality.
- Pyongyang has condemned Seoul’s pursuit of nuclear‑powered submarines with U.S. support as an “offensive act,” while experts note cruise missile tests are not banned by U.N. resolutions but still pose a serious threat; suggestions of Russian technical assistance remain unconfirmed.