North Korea says missile tests simulated striking South with tactical nuclear weapons

Kim Jong-un said his forces were “completely ready to hit and destroy targets at any time from any location”

• North and South Korea tensions explained in 30 seconds

North Korea’s recent flurry of missile tests demonstrated its ability to carry out strikes with tactical nuclear weapons, its leader, Kim Jong-un, has said, adding that his forces were “completely ready to hit and destroy targets at any time from any location”.

Kim, who last month said the North’s transformation into a nuclear power was “irreversible,” said the drills were “an obvious warning and clear demonstration” to the country’s enemies.

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With six launches in 12 days, North Korea is flexing its muscles and taking advantage of geopolitical turmoil across the world

Millions of residents of northern Japan will have felt a sense of deja vu on Tuesday morning when they were alerted to a North Korean missile flying overhead. Five years earlier, they had twice been shaken from their slumber by Japanese government warnings to seek shelter after missile launches by Pyongyang.

The intermediate-range missile involved in this week’s test was far from buzzing the rooftops of Hokkaido farmhouses – it flew at an altitude of 1,000km as it made its way to the Pacific Ocean, where it splashed down, without incident, more than 3,000km east of Japan.

Kim Jong-un says new law guarantees North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons

Leader says North Korea’s nuclear status is now ‘irreversible’, with military allowed to ‘automatically’ use atomic weapons

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, says his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles it needs to counter hostilities from the United States, which he accused of running a pressure campaign aimed at weakening the North’s defences and eventually collapsing his authoritarian government.

State media reported on Friday that Kim made the comments during a speech at North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament on Thursday, where members also passed a law that authorised North Korea’s military to “automatically” execute nuclear strikes against enemy forces if its leadership comes under attack.