North Korea has unveiled a new train-based missile system which it used to fire missiles at test targets close to Japan on Wednesday.
The missiles were launched from a new 'railway-borne missile system' designed as a potential counter-strike to any forces that threaten the country, state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday.
The missiles flew 497 miles before striking a target in the sea of Japan off North Korea's east coast, KCNA said.
South Korean and Japanese authorities were alerted to the test launch which came just days after North Korea tested another nuclear-capable cruise missile this past weekend.
Meanwhile, on the same day as North Korea tested its train-based launch system, South Korea in kind tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), and in doing so became the first country without nuclear weapons to develop such a system.
North Korea has unveiled a new train-based missile system which it used to fire missiles at test targets close to Japan on Wednesday
The missiles flew 497 miles before striking a target in the sea off North Korea's east coast, KCNA said
South Korean and Japanese authorities were alerted to the test launch which came just days after North Korea tested another nuclear-capable cruise missile this past weekend
Under Kim Jong Un (pictured), North Korea has been steadily developing its weapons systems amid stalled talks with Western powers aimed at dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals in return for US sanctions relief
The two Koreas have been in an increasingly heated arms race, with both sides unveiling more capable missiles and other weapons, but South Korea does not possess nuclear capabilities.
The tests by nuclear-armed North Korea drew international condemnation and concern, however, with the United States saying they violated UN Security Council resolutions and posed a threat to Pyongyang's neighbours.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga strongly condemned the test which came just days after North Korea launched a nuclear-capable missile last weekend, while Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato called the missiles 'a serious threat to the peace and safety of Japan and its surrounding areas'.
North Korea has been steadily developing its weapons systems in recent years, raising the stakes for stalled talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals in return for US sanctions relief.
The North Korean test was conducted by a railway-borne missile regiment that had been organised earlier this year, the KCNA report said.
'The railway-borne missile system serves as an efficient counter-strike means capable of dealing a harsh multi-concurrent blow to the threat-posing forces,' said Pak Jong Chon, military commander and member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, who oversaw the test, according to KCNA.
The two Koreas have been in an increasingly heated arms race, with both sides unveiling more capable missiles and other weapons, but South Korea does not possess nuclear capabilities
