North Korea: Missile tests were practice to attack South, US

North Korea’s military said Monday its recent barrage of missile tests were practices to attack its rivals’ air bases and warplanes and paralyze their operation command systems, showing Pyongyang’s resolve to counter provocative U.S.-South Korean military drills “more thoroughly and mercilessly.”North Korea fired dozens of missiles and flew warplanes last week, triggering evacuation alerts in some South Korean and Japanese areas, in response to massive U.S.-South Korean air force drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.U.S. and South Korean officials strongly condemned the North’s missile launches, saying their drills were defensive in nature.“The recent corresponding military operations by the Korean People’s Army are a clear answer of (North Korea) that the more persistently the enemies’ provocative military moves continue, the more thoroughly and mercilessly the KPA will counter them,” the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by state media.It said its weapons tests involved ballistic missiles loaded with dispersion warheads and underground infiltration warheads meant to launch strikes on enemy air bases; ground-to-air missiles designed to “annihilate” enemy aircraft at different altitudes and distances; and strategic cruise missiles.