North Korea touts ability to attack 'American bastards'

SEOUL, June 22 (UPI) -- North Korea stated it has secured the capability to attack U.S. military bases in the Pacific a day after South Korea confirmed Pyongyang had test launched two mid-range ballistic missiles.

Referring to the Musudan rockets as the Hwasong-10, state-controlled KCNA reported Kim Jong Un attended the missile launches on Wednesday.

According to state media, Kim said North Korea now has the "clear ability" to "totally and realistically attack American bastards" in the "operational zone of the Pacific Ocean."

North Korea's Workers' Party newspaper the Rodong Sinmun ran several photos of the test launch. The paper also identified the mid-range missile as the Hwasong-10, and stated "Comrade Kim Jong Un provided guidance on site."

Guam is about 2,200 miles from Wonsan, the North Korean city near the site of the launch. The Musudan is known to have a range between 1,800 and 2,500 miles.

The U.S. military base in Guam, along with bases in Japan, deploys reinforcements to the Korean peninsula in the case of war.

In January, a long-range B-52 bomber that flew across the peninsula after Pyongyang announced its fourth nuclear test was deployed from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, Yonhap reported.

A North Korean defense official had condemned the Guam base on Monday, calling the site a place where the United States is plotting foreign invasions of the peninsula.

On Wednesday the Pentagon confirmed North Korea had launched two ballistic missiles, but that the projectiles do not threaten the U.S. mainland.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said during a press conference in Fort Knox that one of the missiles flew for a long time, but it's hard to know whether it was a successful launch, News 1 reported.