North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boasted that a recently tested intercontinental ballistic missile is another “reliable and maximum-capacity” weapon to contain U.S. military threats, state media reported Saturday. The United States responded to the North’s weapons launch by flying supersonic bombers in a show of force.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile, a day after its neighbors said they had detected the launch of an ICBM that showed a potential to reach anywhere in the United States.

KCNA said Kim observed the launch with his wife Ri Sol Ju and their “beloved daughter” as well as senior officials. State media photos showed Kim walking hand-in-hand with his daughter, who was clad in a white coat, together watching a huge missile loaded on a launch truck. It’s the first time for North Korea to publish the photo of Kim’s daughter. Observers say Kim observing a weapons launch with his family suggests that he is emboldened by his advancing nuclear program.

Friday’s launch was part of the North’s ongoing barrage of missile tests that are seen as an attempt to expand its arsenal and boost its leverage in future diplomacy. Some foreign experts said the Hwasong-17 missile is still under development but is the North’s longest-range ballistic weapon designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat U.S. missile defense systems.

KCNA said the missile fired from Pyongyang International Airport traveled up to a maximum altitude of about 6,040 kilometers (3,750 miles) and flew a distance of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before it landed on the preset area in international waters off the country’s east coast.

“The test-fire clearly proved the reliability of the new major strategic weapon system to be representative of (North Korea’s) strategic forces and its powerful combat performance as the strongest strategic weapon in the world,” KCNA said.

“Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats to (North Korea), frequently introducing nuclear strike means, our party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation,” KCNA said.

Kim’s statement suggests North Korea will continue its testing activities as the United States is pushing to bolster its china-c03f8fb768500ffb411f9fcec2da4fcf">security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan. There are concerns that North Korea could soon conduct its first nuclear test in five years.

U.S. B-1B bombers took part in separate joint exercises Saturday with South Korean and Japanese warplanes in response to the North Korean ICBM launch. South Korean and Japanese officials said their respective drills with the U.S. bombers reaffirmed their combined defense postures.

North Korea is sensitive to the deployment of U.S. B-1B bombers because they’re capable of carrying a huge payload of conventional weapons. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent B-1B bombers streaking over South Korea as part of exercises, in the bombers’ first such flyover in five years.