North Korea Says It Fired New Nuclear Missile, Wants Warhead To Hit US: Report

North Korea tested a new type of missile that could strike attacking warships, said the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Friday.

"This new-type cruise rocket is a powerful attack means capable of striking any enemy group of battleships" that could threaten North Korea, KCNA said. The missiles were tested on Thursday.

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The missiles are part of the fourth new missile system North Korea claims they have introduced and tested this year. This was the fifth weapons test this month. The news agency said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un witnessed the launches and that the missiles "accurately detected and hit" floating targets at sea.

The North did not disclose how many missiles it launched, but according to South Korea’s national security director Chung Eui-yong on Friday, the North fired four short-range missiles. The South said they were fired from the town of Wonsan and flew about 200 kilometers (125 miles) and landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This is the site where earlier this week U.S. aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan completed joint exercises with the South Korean navy.

"We assess that North Korea intended to show off its various missle capabilities, display its precise targeting capability, in the form of armed protests against ships in regard to U.S. Navy carrier strike groups and joint naval drills," Roh Jae-cheon, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chief of Staffs said on Friday.

North Korea’s weapons tests intend to build a nuclear and missile program that can resist what it sees as hostility from the U.S.and South Korea. These tests have become a difficulty for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has shown interest in reaching out to North Korea.

Moon has recently tried to improve ties by expanding cross-border civilian exchanges. On Monday, North Korea rejected a Seoul civic right group’s offer to provide anti-malaria supplies. This was a form of protesting South Korea’s support of fresh U.N. sanctions adopted last week. Moon’s government also said it will let two of the four North Korean fishermen rescued at sea resettle in the South as per their wishes. The two other fishermen who wanted to return home were repatriated on Friday. Pyongyang often accuses Seoul of kidnapping its citizens and forcing them to defect to the South. Analysts say the most recent weapons test were both a way to make political demands clear to foreign leaders and a way to pressure Moon.

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Last month, North Korea debuted a new midrange missile that flew higher than missiles they previously tested, according to outside experts. In the coming weeks, they launched a solid-fuel midrange missile that was described as "precision-guided," which experts say is equipped with a maneuverable terminal stage meant to combat missile defense systems like the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense that is deployed in South Korea.

North Korea has completed two atomic tests and dozens of launches since the beginning of 2016. Its mission is to develop a missile able to deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental United States. President Donald Trump has stated that "won’t happen."