DPRK conducts drill to improve nuclear forces' readiness: KCNA

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a joint striking drill on the eastern fronts using long-range artillery and missile systems as its top leader stressed the importance of improving the combat readiness of the country's nuclear forces, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday.

The exercise was carried out Thursday in response to the United States and its allies conducting a series of nuclear operation drills on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity, the KCNA said, describing the moves as a reckless act that aggravates the situation and necessitates the DPRK armed forces to maintain rapid reaction capabilities and a thoroughgoing war posture.

The joint exercises would effectively demonstrate the DPRK armed forces' rapid counteraction posture and capability to respond to the evolving military situation that the enemies are exacerbating in the sensitive region, the KCNA said, citing a spokesman for the country's Ministry of National Defence.

The drill, involving a 600 mm multi-layer rocket system and the tactical ballistic missile Hwasongpho-11-Ka, was aimed at ensuring that the military units acquire the operating procedures of the rocket and missile attack systems in compliance with the state nuclear weapon combined management system, said the report.

When guiding the event, Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, stressed the need to steadily perfect the normal combat readiness of the nuclear forces to deter war and fight war, KCNA reported.

The DPRK would continue to "steadily improve the long-range precision striking capability and efficiency of weapons systems, proceeding from the security environment of our state and the realistic requirements of modern warfare," the DPRK leader was quoted by the KCNA as saying.