Newly tested missiles could be seen as "defensive in nature" - they are created to thwart enemy warship.
"We assess that North Korea meant to show off its various missile capabilities, display its precise targeting capability, in the form of armed protests against ships in regard to US Navy carrier strike groups and joint naval drills", a South Korean military spokesman explained.
Diplomats at the United Nations denounced Thursday's cruise missile launches as another provocation, though no immediate meeting of the Security Council is planned.
North Korea has reliable short- and mid-range ballistic missiles, and its new intermediate-range ballistic missile has a range just short of an intercontinental ballistic missile and could comfortably hit Guam.
"The launched cruise rockets accurately detected and hit the floating targets on the East Sea of Korea", KCNA said, referring to the Sea of Japan where just last week, two USA aircraft carriers were carrying out naval manoeuvres.
North Korea's claim of victory has not be independently verified. But, the more tests the Hermit Kingdom conducts, the greater the chance North Korea has of successfully launching one-with a nuclear warhead.
People sit in front of a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile firing, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 8, 2017.
Seoul's JCS said yesterday that the test-firing did not violate the UN Security Council resolutions which specifically ban high-altitude ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development.
A decision to postpone the full deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system pending a review of its environment impact was a domestic measure to ensure a democratic process, Chung Eui-yong told a news briefing.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw Thursday's successful launches of several anti-ship cruise missiles from the country's south-eastern coast, state media reported on Friday.
South Korea's military said they were fired from the town of Wonsan and flew about 125 miles before splashing down between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. "It will pose a considerable threat to US and South Korean navies", he told AFP.
These tests have become a difficulty for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has shown interest in reaching out to North Korea.
Moon campaigned in favor of engagement with North Korea but he seems to have modified his stance in the face of ongoing provocations by Pyongyang.
In Washington, the USA missile defense chief, Vice Admiral James Syring, told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that North Korea's missile program was a cause of "great concern".
Thursday's launches came after two USA aircraft carriers deployed to waters off the Korean Peninsula as a show of force, recently left the Sea of Japan after holding joint exercises with Self-Defense Forces ships and fighter jets.
The missiles are the fourth new system the hermit state has tested this year, sending a defiant message that it will continue to pursue a weapons program that has rattled Washington.
The ship appears anchored, with no wake.
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