Cruise Missile Test Ahead Of Trump To South Korea, North Korea Derived To Strengthen Combat Readiness

Illustration of the test launch of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. (Wikimedia Commons-Owned Navy)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Korean Workers Party in North Korea (North Korea), Pak Jong-chon, said his country's military was strengthening combat readiness by conducting a cruise missile test.

"Our mission is to strengthen the nuclear combat posture in a sustainable manner," Pak said while reviewing the test launch with North Korean defense officials, quoted from the North Korean news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday, October 29.

The test was carried out one day before the flight of the President of the United States (US) Donald Trump from Japan to South Korea (South Korea) to attend the APEC 2025 Summit.

The North Korean military fired a strategic cruise missile from the sea in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday local time.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, North Korea's cruise missile launch was carried out after Trump expressed his desire to meet North Korean President Kim Jong-un on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.

The upgraded missile for launch from the ship was fired vertically and flew more than 7,800 seconds over the Yellow Sea on a mission to destroy targets.

Kim Jong-un reportedly did not supervise the trial.