North Korea vowed Thursday to push ahead with further strategic guided-missile tests as the Chinese president arrived in Seoul for a visit

North Korea vowed Thursday to push ahead with further strategic guided-missile tests as the Chinese president arrived in Seoul for a visit.
  
"(North Korea) will continue to hold drills of launching high-precision tactical guided missiles," said a spokesman for the Korean People's Army (KPA) Strategic Force, calling the tests a "legitimate exercise" of sovereignty.
  
North Korea has conducted a series of missile tests in the past week.
  
The United States criticized the recent missile launches as "problematic" and "destabilizing", while Seoul and Tokyo also lodged protests.
 
The first in the series of tests last Thursday was hailed by the North's state media as that of a new "cutting-edge" guided missile which marked a "breakthrough" in the North's military capabilities.
  
The South said the second test on Sunday was of two short-range Scud missiles with a range of about 500 kilometers. On Wednesday the North fired two rockets with a range of around 180 kilometers (110 miles).
  
The South said there were a number of possible motives for the multiple tests, ranging from a display for domestic consumption, to a show of strength for the international community or a warning to Seoul.