Defense

North Korea: Recent missile test a ‘prelude’ to targeting Guam

by Brooke Seipel 08/29/17 11:01 PM CDT

North Korea is calling its recent missile launch over Japan a “prelude” to military operations directed at the U.S. territory of Guam, North Korean state media said Tuesday.

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile that soared for two minutes over Japanese territory before crashing into the Pacific early Tuesday.

The launch comes after North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday.

According to a report by CNN, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Pyongyang would be “conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future.”

{mosads}The news agency also called the launch “the first step of the military operation of the [North Korean military] in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam.”

Pyongyang threatened to strike Guam earlier this month but has been relatively quiet after President Trump threatened “fire and fury.”

North Korea and the U.S. have escalated tensions over the last month as the country continues to advances its nuclear capabilities and conduct missile tests.

The U.S. and South Korea last week began their annual joint military exercises in the region, war games that always anger North Korea. Pyongyang treats the drills as a rehearsal for invasion and almost always responds with some show of force.