North Korea's Kim oversees simulated nuclear counterattack against US, South Korea

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 7th enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 1, 2023 in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen drills simulating a nuclear counterattack against the U.S. and South Korea in a warning to the allies who are scaling up their joint military exercises, state media KCNA said on Monday.

The North's drills involved a short-range missile launch but - unusually - the missile flew from a buried silo, which analysts say would help improve speed and stability in future tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).