DPRK fires long-range strategic cruise missiles in drill: report

SEOUL -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two long-range strategic cruise missiles at dawn on Saturday, in a simulated tactical nuclear attack drill designed to send a warning against another round of US-Republic of Korea (ROK) joint exercises, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday.

The missiles tipped with mock nuclear warheads were fired from the mouth of the River Chongchon toward the western waters off the Korean Peninsula, making a flight exceeding 7,600 seconds, before the warheads were detonated at a preset altitude of 150 meters above a target island, the report said.

The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea called on all the service personnel of the country's nuclear force to maintain high alertness and a mobilized posture, and make the United States and the ROK more acutely aware of the serious situation "through the overpowering exercise of the war deterrence," the report added.