Kim Jong-un 'Watched Simulated Nuke Attacks on S.Korea'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched seven short- and mid-range missile launches that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korea in recent weeks, state media said Monday.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the launches were designed to simulate striking major South Korean facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. 

In a frenzy of activity from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, the North fired ballistic missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,500 km, sometimes at a rate of two a day. 

"Even though the enemy continues to talk about dialogue and negotiations, we do not have anything to talk about nor do we feel the need to do so," KCNA quoted Kim as saying. He added the nuclear combat forces would defend the North's "dignity, sovereign rights and rights to live," and pledged to "further strengthen the forces in every way." 

Monday marked the 77th founding anniversary of the Workers Party.  

A projectile the North fired on Sept. 25 seems to have been a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launched from an underwater platform in an inland reservoir, the first of its kind. At the time, the South Korean military speculated that it had been fired from a mobile missile launcher. 

KCNA said the regime also staged a massive air drill with some 150 warplanes on Oct. 8, two days after it scrambled 12 fighter jets in response to joint South Korea-U.S. naval drills in the East Sea. 

The South Korean military scrambled state-of-the-art F-35A stealth fighter jets in response. 

The regime has been boosting its nuclear missile forces since Kim symbolically enshrined the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in law. 

Observers expect it to conduct another nuclear test soon. "It's important to have a correct understanding of the grave security reality on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and prepare for it adequately," the South Korean presidential office said.