North Korean Leader Attends Medium-Range Strategic Missile Launch Drill

North Korea announced the conduct of a maneuver to launch a medium-range strategic missile at dawn on October 3, from an eastern area of the country towards the East Sea of Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday.

The agency's report stated that the maneuver came "as part of efforts to train missile troops - who operate the hypersonic strategic weapon system - to handle their equipment, and to assess the reliability, efficiency, and maneuverability of the country's military deterrent force."

Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, oversaw the launch maneuver at the site, according to the report.

Kim said: "The members of the strategic missile forces have demonstrated their professional competence and full readiness for counterattack through today's launch maneuver; they clearly showed their exceptional skill in operating their main offensive system and their constant readiness for immediate action, thus enhancing confidence in our deterrent power."

The North Korean leader emphasized the need to "continue our responsible efforts without pause, to make the enemy continuously and repeatedly aware of the reliability and lethality of our strategic offensive means... This is a form of practicing deterrence," the agency reported.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stated in a statement released on Saturday that her country conducted a test of a medium-range strategic missile. Earlier on Saturday, the South Korean military announced that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile that traveled more than 700 kilometers towards the sea off its eastern coast. Kim Yo Jong, an official in the ruling Workers' Party, said that drills on a "strategic weapon" were conducted towards the sea off the eastern coast of the country using a medium-range missile. She added that the North Korean leader oversaw the training carried out by a "special task force unit." She referred to statements made by Seoul and Tokyo regarding the distance the missile traveled, saying that their findings demonstrate the limitations of their tracking capabilities.

She stated that South Korea and Japan "must quickly recognize the speed of the missile," without revealing the speed. She noted that the missile was also capable of changing its flight path at low altitude using artificial intelligence technology. She added, "In other words, this means that there is no way to avoid an attack by this (missile)."