Kim Jong Un Watched North Korea Test New Anti-Aircraft Missile

North Korea tested its latest anti-aircraft missile on Monday in an exercise overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, state news agency KCNA reported.

The launch demonstrated the new system's "rapid combat response," KCNA noted.

The test came just over a week after South Korea began its major annual joint military exercise with the United States.

The North Korean leader praised the system, assuring that his army would be "equipped with another defense weapon system with commendable performance," KCNA added, without giving further details.

The agency did not specify where the test took place, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea early last week in what was its first weapons test since Donald Trump's return to the US presidency.

In a separate statement, a spokesman for North Korea's Defense Ministry, who remained anonymous, said the drills were "nothing but a rehearsal for a war of aggression."

Pyongyang also test-fired strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea in late February to demonstrate its "counterattack capabilities."

The launches are seen as a North Korean response to the "Freedom Shield" exercises that Seoul and Washington have launched as part of their annual defense training, which Pyongyang has denounced as an "aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal."

Planned to date, the exercises are based on an operational plan to defend South Korea from possible aggression from its northern neighbor.

United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea from launching missiles with ballistic technology and of any range.

Military cooperation between Seoul and Washington is regularly condemned by Pyongyang, which sees it as aimed at invading its territory and frequently retaliates with missile tests.

Kim Yo Jong criticized "the hostile policy of the United States," which she said constitutes "sufficient justification (for North Korea) to indefinitely strengthen its nuclear deterrent force."

North Korea justifies its nuclear weapons program by the threats it says it faces from the United States and its allies, including South Korea.

US President Donald Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim Jong Un during his first term, said in an interview that he would reach out again to the North Korean leader, whom he called a "smart guy".