▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 11, 2026, shows the North's leader Kim Jong-un (R) and his daughter Ju-ae overseeing a test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon via video the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 11, 2026, shows a test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the Choe Hyon destroyer the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ This compilation of photos, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 11, 2026, shows a test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the Choe Hyon destroyer the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-cruise missile

(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim oversees another cruise missile test from destroyer amid Seoul-Washington military drills

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout; ADDS byline)

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen another test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the Choe Hyon destroyer, state media reported Wednesday, as South Korea and the United States have kicked off their annual springtime military drills.

The North's leader observed the test via video Tuesday, stressing that it is important to maintain and expand a "powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Photos published by state media showed Kim's daughter Ju-ae overseeing the test.

North Korea conducted a similar strategic cruise missile test from the destroyer last week ahead of its commissioning. Pyongyang's reference to "strategic" weapons suggests that they could have nuclear capabilities.

The latest test-firing came as Seoul and Washington kicked off the Freedom Shield exercise Monday for an 11-day run. The North has long denounced the allies' combined military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion though they said the exercises are defensive in nature.

The KCNA said the launched cruise missiles flew along the flight orbit above the Yellow Sea for 10,116-10,138 seconds and hit designated targets.

"The components of our war deterrent are now being included in the very sophisticated operational system in an effective and accelerated manner continuously, and the country's nuclear forces have made a switch to the phase of multifaceted operation," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.

The North's leader expressed his satisfaction that the test verified the "reliability of the national integrated control system of strategic weapons and superiority of the destroyer's integrated combat system."

He also raised the need to examine the military efficiency of naval automatic guns installed on the warship and presented tasks of strengthening the naval power, the KCNA said.

"It is more favorable to enhance the anti-warship and strategic attack capabilities ... by equipping high-speed warships of below 3,000 tonnage with such naval automatic guns and additionally installing supersonic weapon systems instead of those guns on the 5,000-tonnage, 8,000-tonnage destroyers in the future," he said.

In April last year, North Korea unveiled the Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton multipurpose destroyer, as part of efforts to enhance its naval power. It claimed the destroyer is equipped with supersonic strategic cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and other strike means.

After launching another 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, in June 2025, Kim ordered the construction of a third destroyer of the same class by this year's founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Oct. 10.

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