North Korea has trumpeted the success of its recent test-firings of sea-to-surface cruise missiles, in another display of its growing military capabilities as US President Donald Trump visits South Korea.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the missiles fired on Tuesday flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets in its western waters. It said the weapons would contribute to expanding the operational sphere of the country's nuclear-armed military.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had detected the North Korean launch preparations and that the cruise missiles were fired in the North's northwestern waters at around 3 pm Tuesday.
The joint chiefs said South Korea and the United States were analysing the weapons and maintaining a combined defence readiness capable of a "dominant response" against any North Korean provocation.
The North Korean report came hours before an expected summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the city of Gyeongju, where South Korea is hosting this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Japan to South Korea, Trump downplayed the North Korean launches.
"He's been launching missiles for decades, right?" he said, referring to Kim Jong Un. Trump reiterated he still wants to meet with Kim, whom he met three times in 2018 and 2019 before their diplomacy derailed over disagreements on US-led sanctions against the North.
"We had a really good understanding of each other," Trump said.
KCNA said the tests were attended by senior military official Pak Jong Chon, who also inspected training for sailors aboard North Korea's newly developed destroyers Choe Hyon and Kang Kon, which leader Kim Jong Un has described as key assets in his efforts to strengthen the navy.
North Korea's latest launches followed short-range ballistic missile tests last week that it said involved a new hypersonic system designed to strengthen its nuclear war deterrent.
During his South Korean visit, Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, South Korean officials have said a Trump–Kim meeting is unlikely.
North Korea has shunned any form of talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Trump fell apart in 2019 during the American president's first term.
Kim's top foreign policy priority is now Russia. In recent months, he has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment to help fuel President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, while embracing the idea of a "new Cold War" and positions his country as part of a united front against the US-led West.
Last month, Kim reiterated he wouldn't return to talks with the United States unless Washington drops its demand for North Korea's denuclearisation, after Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for new diplomacy.