North Korea says missile tests simulate striking South with nuclear weapons

North Korea's recent flurry of missile tests were designed to simulate showering the South with tactical nuclear weapons as a warning after large-scale navy drills by South Korean and U.S. forces, state news agency KCNA said on October 10.

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles early on October 9, officials in Seoul and Tokyo said, the seventh such launch since September 25.

Leader Kim Jong Un guided exercises by nuclear tactical units over the past two weeks, involving ballistic missiles with mock nuclear warheads, KCNA reported, saying they were meant to deliver a strong message of war deterrence, Reuters reported on October 10.

The tests simulated striking military command facilities, main ports, and airports in the South, KCNA added.

"The effectiveness and practical combat capability of our nuclear combat force were fully demonstrated as it stands completely ready to hit and destroy targets at any time from any location," KCNA said.

"Even though the enemy continues to talk about dialogue and negotiations, we do not have anything to talk about nor do we feel the need to do so," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

KCNA said North Korea's ruling Workers' Party decided to conduct the drills as an unavoidable response to a large-scale mobilisation of U.S. and South Korean naval forces, including an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine.

"The statement they've released is crystal clear that this recent spate of tests was their way of signalling resolve to the United States and South Korea as they carried out military activities of their own," said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The United States and South Korea held joint maritime exercises involving a U.S. aircraft carrier on Friday, a day after the South scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean aerial bombing drill.

The navy exercises involved the U.S. carrier Ronald Reagan and its strike group. The naval forces of South Korea, Japan and the United States also conducted joint drills before that.

After the North Korea statement on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's office said "it is important to accurately recognise the severity of security issues in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia to prepare properly," an official was quoted as saying.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately condemned Pyongyang's recent missile launches and vowed to work toward "the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolutions."