Leading North Korea's Ballistic Missile Launch Trial, Kim Jong-un Importantly Values Troop Combat Readiness

Test launch of North Korea's Hwasong-11 ballistic missile. (Source: KCNA)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the importance of his country's nuclear force combat readiness when overseeing a test of short-range ballistic missiles and long-range artillery on Thursday, state media reported Friday.

The test, which also includes an operational reliability check of the "nuclear trigger" system, is designed to ensure a quick response posture to counter a sensitive regional military climate, the KCNA news agency said.

KCNA said a 600mm dual-launch rocket system and the Hwasong-11 tactical ballistic missile were deployed for the test.

The Hwasong-11 is known internationally as KN-23, a series of North Korea's short-range ballistic missiles that Ukrainian and Western officials say are supplied to Russia and used by Moscow to attack Ukraine.

Ahead of the missile launch, there was an inspection of the nuclear defense system, dubbed by North Korea as a "nuclear trigger", KCNA said.

"Kim Jong Un said it was very important to continue to improve the normal combat readiness of nuclear forces" to prevent war and war, "KCNA reports.

"He said the DPRK must continue to direct efforts to continue to improve the capabilities of long-range precision attacks and the efficiency of the weapon system," the report added, using the country's official name abbreviation.

Earlier, South Korea and Japan on Thursday reported several ballistic missiles were fired from North Korea's east coast in what was believed to be short-range missile performance tests that had been deployed.

A South Korean military official and an analyst said Thursday's missile launch was likely to test the performance of short-range missile weaponry, perhaps to increase it in order to be exported.