This article is by Lee Yu-jung and read by an artificial voice.

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang - As U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his stay in Japan and prepared to travel to South Korea for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, North Korea launched a strategic cruise missile into the Yellow Sea on Tuesday - a move seen by many as a direct show of nuclear strike capability aimed at U.S. military forces in the region.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Wednesday that North Korea's Missile Administration launched a ship-based cruise missile the previous day. The missile, reportedly modified for vertical launch, flew for about 130 minutes before hitting its target.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed detecting the launch around 3 p.m. on Tuesday from the northern Yellow Sea, adding that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were conducting a detailed analysis.
Military authorities believe the missiles were likely of the Hwasal-1 or Hwasal-2 series - medium-to-long-range cruise missiles with a range of around 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), capable of hitting targets across the Korean Peninsula and even U.S. military bases in Japan.
Coincidentally, at 3:48 p.m. on Tuesday, Trump boarded the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington - a 100,000-ton Nimitz-class ship - docked at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base, the home port of the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet. That base is within the missile's potential range.
The Hwasal cruise missile is believed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. While Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in resuming dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his Asia tour, Kim responded by demonstrating his capability to strike U.S. forces in Japan with nuclear-tipped missiles.

"It is an extension of exercising the war deterrent and an act of exercising it in a more responsible manner to continuously test the reliability of different strategic offensive means and impress their abilities upon the enemies," the KCNA said in its report. While the term "enemy" wasn't explicitly defined, it likely referred to the United States.
The launch appears to serve a dual purpose - asserting North Korea's presence during the APEC in Gyeongju, and pushing back against the growing trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan on North Korea policy.
After a bilateral summit with Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters that the two leaders reaffirmed their shared goal of "complete denuclearization of North Korea," suggesting that the North's missile launch may have been in part a response.
Kim Jong-un did not personally attend the missile launch, leaving it instead to senior official Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Additionally, the launch was conducted into the Yellow Sea - not toward Trump's location in the East - which analysts see as a calibrated move that leaves room for diplomatic engagement.

"Direct confrontation with Trump would be a burden for Kim Jong-un," said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies. "Kim is likely trying to maintain his personal rapport with Trump while signaling that talks will only resume on his own terms."
While en route to Korea aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters, "Our focus is now on tomorrow with China, and I want to make that the focus," while adding, "But we'll come back and we'll, at some point in the not too distant future, meet with North Korea."
While this suggests Trump will not meet with Kim during his visit to South Korea, it does not appear to have dampened his commitment to dialogue.

Regarding the missile launch, Trump downplayed its significance: "He's been launching missiles for decades, right?" he said.
Experts believe North Korea used the test to verify its "cold launch" technology - a vertical launch method used in the latest 5,000-ton destroyer, the Choe Hyon-ho. This technology can also ...

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