North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls for more ballistic missile launches in Pacific

North Korea's state media said early Wednesday that the Supreme leader Kim Jong Un has called for more ballistic missile launches into the Pacific a day after a missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan was fired.

The Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim expressed great satisfaction with the launch, calling it a "meaningful prelude" to containing Guam, the U.S. Pacific territory and military hub.

The agency says Kim said the country needs to conduct more ballistic missile tests to the Pacific to advance the capabilities of its strategic force.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided a launch of its Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday in a drill to counter the joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. militaries, the North's official KCNA news agency said on Wednesday.

"The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.