Washington: The United States military said Sunday missile tests conducted by North Korea over the weekend posed ‘threats’ to the country’s neighbors and beyond.
“This activity highlights DPRK’s continuing focus on developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, using the North’s official name.
North Korean state media reported on Monday morning local time the country had test-fired a new “long-range cruise missile” on Saturday and Sunday, amid a long standoff with the United States over its nuclear program.
The missiles travelled 1,500-kilometer (about 930 miles) flight paths — including figure-of-8 patterns — above North Korea and its territorial waters to hit their targets, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Its report called the missile a “strategic weapon of great significance,” adding the tests were successful and it gave the country “another effective deterrence means” against “hostile forces.”