THE Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) successfully test-fired new type of long-range cruise missiles Saturday and Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported yesterday.

The launched long-range cruise missiles traveled for 7,580 seconds along oval and pattern-8 flight orbits in the air above the territorial land and waters of the DPRK and hit targets 1,500 km away, the report said.

The development of this weapon system “holds strategic significance of possessing another effective deterrence means for more reliably guaranteeing the security of our state and strongly containing the military maneuvers of the hostile forces against the DPRK,” the report noted.

The development of the long-range cruise missile “has been pushed forward according to the scientific and reliable weapon system development process for the past two years” and detailed tests of missile parts, scores of engine ground thrust tests, various flight tests, control and guidance tests, warhead power tests, etc. were conducted with success, according to the report.

“In all, the efficiency and practicality of the weapon system operation was confirmed to be excellent,” the KCNA said.

Pak Jong Chon, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, watched the test-launches with some leading officials and scientists in the field of the national defense science, it added.

Pak stressed the need for the field of the national defense science to go all out to increase the defense capabilities, the war deterrence of the country and keep making achievements in meeting the grand and long-term targets of securing war deterrence, the report said.

(Xinhua)