North Korea’s Kim oversees ‘super-large’ rocket launcher drills

Pyongyang has broken with much of its inter-Korean policy in recent years and ramped up weapons testing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen live-fire drills involving “newly-equipped super-large” multiple rocket launchers, a day after South Korea and Japan reported the country’s launch of several short-range ballistic missiles, its first such test in about two months.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the drills were aimed at testing the “real war capabilities” of 600-millimetre (23 inches) multiple rocket launchers.

The exercises also involved simulating an aerial explosion of a shell at a predetermined altitude above the target, KCNA said.

“They fully demonstrated their excellent crack-shot artillery marksmanship and prompt and thorough combat readiness,” KCNA said.

Kim, who has overseen multiple tests in recent years as he pursues his plan to modernise North Korea’s military, said the rocket launchers would provide the “core central striking means” in war preparations.