North Korea confirms launch of strategic cruise missile

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – North Korea on Wednesday confirmed it conducted a strategic cruise missile launch drill off the country's west coast to test the "rapid counterattack posture" of its military, state-run media reported.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, the Korean People's Army staged a strategic cruise missile "Hwasal-2" launching drill on the West Sea of Korea on Tuesday.

"The drill contributed to inspecting the rapid counterattack posture of our army and increasing its strategic striking capacity and had no negative effect on the security of the neighboring states," it said.

On Tuesday, the South Korean military said that Pyongyang fired several cruise missiles off the west coast.

It was the third such cruise missile launch by North Korea in a week.

On Monday, North Korea said it tested a newly developed submarine-launched strategic cruise missile Pulhwasal-3-31 over the weekend.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid