On Saturday, South Korea's news agency reported that North Korea had fired several cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea.
"A firing drill for simulated tactical nuclear attack was conducted at dawn of September 2 ... The missile sub-unit involved in the drill fired the long-range strategic cruise missiles toward the West Sea of Korea [in the Yellow Sea] from the mouth of the River Chongchon," the state news agency of North Korea said, adding that the drill was held in response to "a joint guided missile firing and aerial bombing drill" held by the US and South Korea.
As many as two long-range strategic cruise missiles tipped with mock nuclear warheads were fired, with each of them flying some 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) for 7,672 and 7,681 seconds, respectively, and exploding afterward at an altitude of 150 meters above the "target island," the news agency also stated.
"An analysis indicated that North Korea's announcement this morning was exaggerated. Not all of them succeeded," a senior official of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told news agency, expressing skepticism over Pyongyang's claims about successful drills.
Earlier in the week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said that North Korea had launched two ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, which flew some 360 kilometers before falling into the sea. The General Staff of the Korean People's Army said later that it had carried out a tactical nuclear strike drill simulating nuclear strikes at the territory of South Korea in response to the US-South Korea drills.
The US and South Korea held the annual exercise dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield from August 21-31. As part of the exercise, Seoul and Washington carried out an aviation exercise involving at least one B-1B strategic bomber.