"Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un personally supervised hypersonic missile launching drills on Sunday. Still images released on Tuesday show Kim watching the missiles being fired. According to state media KCNA, the test launch was held in Ryokpho District of Pyongyang, with missiles hitting targets about 1,000 km (621 miles) off the country's east coast. Commenting on the drills, the DPRK leader emphasised the ‘essential’ importance of ‘continuous’ military development to the country's national defence. ‘Our such activity is clearly aimed at gradually putting the nuclear war deterrent on a highly developed basis. The reason why it is necessary is exemplified by the recent geopolitical crisis and complicated international events,’ KCNA cited Kim as saying. The general director of the Missile Administration of the DPRK and first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) also oversaw the drills. On the same day, Japan reported at least two ballistic missile launches from the DPRK. South Korea also detected several missile launches from the DPRK’s capital region around 7:50 am (10:50 pm GMT). Sunday's missile test launch follows a series of recent inspections, with Kim overseeing launches of long-range strategic cruise missiles and touring a missile factory, where he inspected the construction of an 8,700-tonne nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine, in efforts to bolster the country's counter-offensive capabilities and combat readiness."