Missile launches were 'simulation' of nuclear-strike on South: North Korea

North Korea preparing to hold its first nuclear weapon test in five years: Reports

Kim Jong Un said North Korea's missile launches were a “simulation” of a nuclear attack on the South, in the latest sign that North Korea is preparing for its first atomic test in five years. 

Kim described a series of exercises since September 25, which included the first missile fired over Japan in five years, as a “severe warning” to the US and its allies, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Monday. 
 

The drills included simulated nuclear strikes on airports in South Korea, tests of underwater missile silos and rocket attacks on seaports, the report said, describing the moves as responses to US-led naval exercises. 
 

The weapon that was fired over Japan into the Western Pacific on October 4 was a “new-type ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile,” KCNA said. The launch was only the most provocative of a dozen missiles fired off over the past two weeks, prompting the US to sent the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group back to nearby waters. 
 

Kim reaffirmed his opposition to negotiations with the US, after last month declaring that North Korea would “never give up nuclear arms or denuclearize first.” 
 

On Sunday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a Sunday an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that its offer for talks still stands, but that the US had the capabilities to respond if Kim chose to escalate.