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| Hwasong-12 Ballistic Missile test launch prep (File Photo) |
PYONGYANG/UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) confirmed Wednesday it test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile Tuesday to counter the on-going U.S.-South Korea joint military drills.
DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un personally guided the launch from a military base in the capital Pyongyang, said the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"It was conducted as a part of the muscle-flexing to counter the Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military drills the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces finally kicked off in disregard of the DPRK's meaningful and crucial warning," it said.
This was the first time for DPRK to have staged a missile test-firing from the capital itself, said the report.
"Involved in the drill were Hwasong artillery units of the KPA (Korean People's Army) Strategic Force tasked with striking the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces located in the Pacific operational theater in contingency and intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12," said the report.
The test-fire also marked the 107th anniversary of the forcible annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910.
"Officers and men of the KPA Strategic Force extended the warmest thanks to Kim Jong Un, who gave vent to the long-pent grudge of the Korean people by mapping out a bold plan to make the cruel Japanese islanders insensible on bloody Aug. 29, when the disgraceful Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty was proclaimed 107 years ago," said the report.
Read the full story at Xinhua