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Kim Jong-un guides test missile launches: KCNA

June 29, 2014

This Rodong Sinmun photo released on June 30, 2014, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observing a tactical rocket firing drill of the North’s Strategic Force at an unidentified place. (Yonhap)

This Rodong Sinmun photo released on June 30, 2014, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un talking to military officials during a tactical rocket firing drill of the North’s Strategic Force at an unidentified place. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korean state media reported Monday its leader Kim Jong-un personally guided the recent test launches of ballistic rockets to boost deterrence.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim “guided a tactical rocket firing drill,” adding that the drill was staged by way of launching precision-guided missiles and firing of shells.

The report did not specify details on the time and place of the North’s latest launches.

North Korea fired two short-range missiles into the East Sea early Sunday, followed by Thursday’s launch of three short-range projectiles also in the waters off the east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, the latest in a series of launches in recent months.

“It is necessary to put the biggest spurs to bolstering up the self-defensive deterrent of the KPA in every way to protect the security and peace of the country,” the KCNA quoted Kim as saying, referring to the North’s military Korean People’s Army, or KPA.

North Korea has vowed to further develop its missile and nuclear weapons program, viewing them as a deterrent against what it claims is Washington’s hostile policy against it.

The latest launches came just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to South Korea on Thursday and Friday.

It would be the first time in more than two decades for a sitting Chinese president to visit South Korea before traveling to North Korea, a traditional ally of China.

On Friday, the KCNA said in a separate report that Kim guided a successful test-launch of newly developed tactical-guided missiles.

Cross-border tension escalated in March, when the North fired two ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast in protest of regular joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, which it condemned as a rehearsal for invasion.