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North Korea successfully tested a new "ground-to-sea cruise rocket" that is capable of striking enemy battleships staging a military attack, the country's KCNA news agency said Friday. Pyongyang launched several land-to-sea missiles early Thursday, under the supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, KCNA said. The missiles "accurately detected and hit the floating targets on the East Sea of Korea," it reported. The missile test was North Korea's fourth in the span of a month, and comes after the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on Kim's government last week. The three previous tests were of ballistic missiles, with North Korea appearing determined to develop a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon and reaching the U.S. mainland. U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday the resumption of talks with North Korea on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is made more difficult by Pyongyang's increasingly frequent missile tests. "We hope, at some point, the talks could resume, but we are nowhere near that point," Nauert said. The latest missile firing came just one day after South Korea suspended the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system. Nauert said the suspension of THAAD deployment is "part of the conversations" that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had with President Donald Trump at an Oval Office meeting on Thursday. "This is a conversation that's taken place at the highest level. We are committed to our South Korean ally. That commitment remains ironclad. We are aware, certainly, of the situation and the suspension of additional launchers," Nauert said. | 
