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SEOUL, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- North Korea launched two long-range cruise missiles that are capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, state media reported on Thursday, calling the test a "clear warning to the enemies." "The test-fire was aimed at further enhancing the combat efficiency and might of the long-range strategic cruise missiles deployed at the units of the Korean People's Army for the operation of tactical nukes," Korean Central News Agency reported.
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The KCNA report said that the launch took place on Wednesday and claimed the missiles flew for 170 minutes over the Yellow Sea in figure-eight and oval patterns before striking targets around 1,240 miles away.
Cruise missiles are propelled by jet engines and can fly lower to the ground than ballistic missiles, making them more difficult to detect.
No announcement about the launch was made by the United States, South Korea or Japan ahead of the KCNA article.
However, a spokesman for Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Thursday that Pyongyang fired two cruise missiles and said that the South Korean military was "aware of the situation in real time and maintained a readiness posture by closely cooperating with the U.S."
The missiles were launched from the area around the city of Kaecheon, north of Pyongyang, Col. Kim Jun-rak told reporters at a press briefing.
North Korea conducted a flurry of seven rounds of missile launches between Sept. 25 and Sunday, which it announced earlier this week were simulated nuclear weapon attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets.
KCNA reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the cruise missile tests and expressed "great satisfaction" at the result, which he called a "clear warning to the enemies and the practical verification and clear demonstration of the absolute reliability and combat capacity of our state's war deterrent."
Kim called for North Korea to "continue to expand the operational sphere of the nuclear strategic armed forces to resolutely deter any crucial military crisis."
He added that North Korea should "focus all efforts on the endless and accelerating development of the national nuclear combat armed forces."
Officials in Seoul and Washington have assessed that Pyongyang is poised to conduct a nuclear weapon detonation -- its seventh overall and first since 2017 -- at any moment.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has called on North Korea to return to the negotiating table to discuss steps toward dismantling its nuclear arsenal, a stance the White House repeated in its National Security Strategy report released Wednesday.
"We will seek sustained diplomacy with North Korea to make tangible progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, while strengthening extended deterrence in the face of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missile threats," the report said.
Kim Jong Un has explicitly rejected the idea of negotiations in recent months, and on Monday said he "felt no necessity" to hold talks.
On Wednesday, the U. S. State Department warned of consequences from Washington and its allies if North Korea conducts a nuclear test.
"The provocations that we've seen from the DPRK have only further isolated the DPRK regime," State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a press briefing.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
"They have only made it the object of condemnation -- certainly have not given it, afforded it any additional leverage," Price said. "And if the DPRK were to go forward, there would be significant additional costs imposed on it."
