North Korea plans for 'nuclear counterattack' in missile test

North Korea on Monday tested a short-range missile as part of a broader series of exercises conducted in response to joint drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un presided over the test, during which a missile was launched from the country's northwest and landed in the Sea of Japan after flying 500 miles, the Washington Times reported.

Kim further order that Pyongyang's forces be "familiar with any unexpected circumstances, and... [be] perfectly prepared in their active posture of making an immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack anytime," per the outlet.

The two-day exercises come as the U.S. and South Korea began joint drills last week, marking the first such operations since former President Donald Trump suspended them while pursuing diplomatic talks with the regime.

Relations between the peninsula's northern and southern governments have remained tense ever since the de facto end of the Korean War in 1953, which technically remains ongoing due to the warring factions never signing a peace treaty.

Upon the beginning of the joint drills, Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned that "[w]e keep our eye on the restless military moves by the U.S. forces and the South Korean puppet military and are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment."

The prospect of renewed conflict on the Korean Peninsula has become an increasingly concerning development amid rising international tension.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.