DPRK top leader oversees ballistic missile test-fire

SEOUL — The Democratic People's Republic of Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday morning, with the country's top leader overseeing the event and stressing the DPRK will not change its policy of developing nuclear forces, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, said at the scene that the test-fire was an appropriate military action "to inform the rivals ...of our counteraction will", KCNA reported.

"The rivals' dangerous tightening of their nuclear alliance" and military maneuvers highlight the need to strengthen nuclear forces, Kim said.